Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 5 of 7Thurston, Edgar
History
Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 5 of 7
Thurston, Edgar
Caste -- India, South; Ethnology -- India, South; India, South -- Social life and customs; Tribes -- India, South
only results of an amusement which requires great courage and agility
on the part of the competitors for the prizes--that is for the cloths
and other things tied to the bullocks' horns--and not a little on the
part of the mere bystanders. The only time I saw this sport (from a
place of safety) I was highly delighted with the entertainment, and
no accident occurred to mar my pleasure. One man indeed was slightly
wounded in the buttock, but he was quite able to walk, and seemed to
be as happy as his friends."
A further account of the jallikat or jellicut is given in the
Gazetteer of the Madura district. "The word jallikattu literally
means tying of ornaments. On a day fixed and advertised by beat of
drums at the adjacent weekly markets, a number of cattle, to the
horns of which cloths and handkerchiefs have been tied, are loosed
one after the other, in quick succession, from a large pen or other
enclosure, amid a furious tom-tomming and loud shouts from the crowd
of assembled spectators. The animals have first to run the gauntlet
down a long lane formed of country carts, and then gallop off wildly
in every direction. The game consists in endeavouring to capture the
cloths tied to their horns. To do this requires fleetness of foot
and considerable pluck, and those who are successful are the heroes
of the hour. Cuts and bruises are the reward of those who are less
skilful, and now and again some of the excited cattle charge into
the on-lookers, and send a few of them flying. The sport has been
prohibited on more than one occasion. But, seeing that no one need
run any risks unless he chooses, existing official opinion inclines
to the view that it is a pity to discourage a manly amusement which
is not really more dangerous than football, steeple-chasing, or
fox-hunting. The keenness of the more virile sections of the community,
especially the Kallans (q.v.), in this game is extraordinary, and,
in many villages, cattle are bred and reared specially for it. The
best jallikats are to be seen in the Kallan country in Tirumangalam,
and next come those in Melur and Madura taluks."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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