As I belong to northern part of India, I never heard this word until recently : Jallikattu. For a while I ignored it but then because of its on-going coverage in newspaper and other media, like everyone else, I also got curious. I did my research and now sharing here. Although there is plenty of information now available but I will share my findings.

To sum up in short :
Jallikattu is a Bull-Taming sport which involves releasing of a special kind of bull breed in crowd of people where they try to grab its hump as long as possible in order to show achievement. It looks more like combination of Running of Bulls and bull fight. Similar to "Jallikattu" the running of bulls event is held during the eight-day festival of Sanfermines in honour of Saint Fermin in Pamplona, although they are also traditionally held in other places such as towns and villages across Spain, Portugal, in some cities in Mexico, and southern France during the summer.

Needless to say, Running of Bulls as well as Jallikattu, both are very dangerous and may look disgusting to people those are not traditionally attached to these events.

Here is a video I am sharing here from Jallikattu :



I am sure above video can give you quite an idea about the event. As per Wikipedia :
Jallikattu (or Sallikkattu), also known as eru thazhuvuthal and manju virattu, is a traditional sport in which a Bos indicus bull, commonly of the Kangayam breed, is released into a crowd of people. Multiple human participants attempt to grab the large hump of the bull with both arms and hang on to it while the bull attempts to escape. Participants hold the hump for as long as possible, attempting to bring the bull to a stop. In some cases, participants must ride long enough to remove flags on the bull's horns.

Jallikattu is typically practiced in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu as a part of Pongal celebrations on Mattu Pongal day.


Its actually very old tradition being practiced in Tamil Nadu from 400-100BC.

There are various rules associated with this sport (as per Wikipedia)

The bull will be released on the the arena through the vadi vasal, an entry gate.
The contestant should only hold the bull by its hump. Holding by the neck, horns or tail results in disqualification.
The tamer should hold the bull for 30 seconds or for 15 feet (4.6 m), whichever is longer when the bull runs.
If the bull throws the contestant off before the line or if no-one manages to hold on to the bull, then the bull will be declared victorious.
If the contestant manages to hold on to the hump till it crosses the finish line, then the contestant is declared the winner.
Only one contestant should hold on to the bull at one time. If more than one contestant holds on to the bull, then there is no winner.
No contestant should hit or hurt the bull in any manner.

However various animal right activists have filed pleas against this sport in court and it was banned until there are proper rules drafted for the sport. But people are already against its ban. There are many reason for this sports to be banned as per those pleas like :

- It is controversial because the blood sport often results in major injuries and deaths

- Reportedly, from 2010 to 2014, there were approximately 1,100 injuries and 17 deaths as a result of Jallikattu events

- Over 200 people have died from the blood sport over the past two decades.

- The court held that use of bulls in such events severely harmed the animals and constituted an offence under the Prevention of Cruelty to the Animals Act.

- PETA India has protested against the blood sport over the years for animal cruelty