SIVAGANGA: After crossing the Indian ocean and leaping into the neighbouring Sri Lanka, jallikattu is now gearing up to mark its presence in Malaysia. Former chief minister of Uva Province in Sri Lanka Senthil Thondaman, who played a major role in organising the bull-taming sport for the first time in the island nation in 2024, is now making efforts to conduct the event in the Southeast Asian country this year. Preliminary talks are under way in this regard.
Realising his passion for jallikattu, Senthil Thondaman, who was born to Indian-origin parents in Sri Lanka, is preparing his 20 bulls to participate in the sport in Tamil Nadu this year. At present, Senthil serves as the leader of Ceylon Workers' Congress, the largest trade union and political party representing people of Indian-origin in Sri Lanka.
Speaking to TNIE, Senthil claimed that he was associated with Ambalatharasu and Ondiraja of the Jallikattu Pathukappu Nala Sangam, who had jointly fought against the PETA case in Supreme Court seeking a ban on jallikattu, and had created awareness in villages about the traditional sport during the ban period (It may be noted that the apex court had banned the sport citing cruelty to animals and the ban was later lifted following pro-jallikattu protests).
Known for introducing caravans for jallikattu bulls, Senthil is currently training his bulls with mannequin dolls for the first time in history to make them ready for multiple jallikattu events in the state. "The bulls are in Tiruchy, Dindigul, Sivaganga, Pudukottai and Namakkal districts, and the reason for keeping them in different places is to contest in the jallikattu events of the respective/nearby areas. For instance, sending a bull from Sivaganga for a jallikattu event in Salem requires a lot of travel time and it also makes the animal exhausted," he told TNIE.
When bull tamers used to train the animals, Senthil said, there were high chances of the tamers getting injured. "To avoid this, mannequins are being used for training, which serves dual purposes — training the bulls and avoiding injuries," added the ex- chief minister, who owns two caravans, including an AC caravan, for his bulls.