“Jallikattu: Raging Bulls”, Open the magzine, January 23, 2026
“THE SNORTING BULL IS LARGE AND gorgeous, its strong blue hump, muscular grey torso and a sagging neck wholly plastered with copious amounts of yellow turmeric powder together glisten under the slanting rays of the morning Madurai sun. The bull belongs to the Kaaliamman Kovil, but despite its sacred origins, the temple animal has left a trail of gore in its wake. As it stomps a deadly hoof on the carpet made of loose coconut coir and majestically scans its immediate surroundings of the vaadivaasal, or bullfighting arena, seven young men in pink jerseys writhe on the padded floor.
Beyond the fallen, and well within the narrow confines of the crowded vaadivaasal, are 40 or so other men, these maatu veerans—the term for contestants roughly translating to “brave bull-tamers”—all in different stages of scramble and mortal fear. Some of them have climbed the yellow metal fences hemming in the vaadivaasal from the rest of the urban village of Avaniyapuram, while the others squat hard against decorated walls and billboarded pillars, especially those barricading the now-empty entry gate, the trapdoor from where this beast had emerged with an enormous leap just moments ago, promptly bulldozing through and flipping over the veerans that had dared to grab its prominent hump.
Having gathered itself after its initial daze, the bull charges the most densely packed corner of the fencing, forcing the huddled veerans on the ground to duck and shield their faces with their sweaty arms, even as the climbers surge further up the metal barriers. A wash of happy whistles and morbid laughter emanates from the spectators—the cheering thousands that includes dignitaries and ministers even, all equally relishing the promise of further violence and this ongoing contest between man and beast. “Super maatu pa, super maatu! Let’s applaud the maatu from Kaaliamman Kovil!” says the announcer, spitting into his mic, him straddled high over a pillar of the entry gate……”
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