Chennai: Chief Minister MK Stalin is all set to inaugurate Jallikattu arena in Keelakarai, tomorrow.
A grand Jallikattu competition will be conducted tomorrow following the guidelines issued by the government in the newly constructed arena.
The brand-new Jallikattu arena is a three-tiered stadium with a seating capacity of 5,000 people. The arena at the Keelakarai village near Alanganallur in Madurai on 66 acres is being built at Rs 44 crore.
Built-in an area of 83,462 sq. ft, the stadium has a vaadivaasal, a narrow passage from where the bulls are let into the ground, a bull burn area, an exclusive gallery for VVIPs, and lawns and gardens among others.
The air-conditioned VIP gallery can accommodate 50 spectators and has two big LED screens.
Expected to emerge as a centre of culture and tourist attraction, the Department of Tourism is making necessary arrangements to transport foreign tourists to take part in the inaugural ceremony, sources revealed.
The stadium can be utilised for conducting various cultural and sports events during the lean season.
Jallikattu is an age-old event celebrated mostly in the state of Tamil Nadu as part of Pongal celebrations. In the sport, a bull is released into a crowd of people and participants in the event try to grab the large hump on the bullās back, attempting to bring the bull to a stop.
Due to the risk of injury, both to the participants and the bull, the animal rights organisations called for a ban on the sport. However, after long protests by the people against the ban, the Supreme Court, in May 2023, upheld the Tamil Nadu governmentās law allowing the bull-taming sport āJallikattuā in the state.
A five-judge Constitution bench of Justices KM Joseph, Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy and CT Ravikumar was hearing a batch of petitions challenging the Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra governmentsā laws allowing the bull-taming sport āJallikattuā and bullock cart races.
The Tamil Nadu government had defended the event of Jallikattu and told the apex court that sporting events can also be cultural events and there is no cruelty on the bulls in Jallikattu.