LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 21:1 January 2021
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

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Jallikattu of Tamil Nadu Tradition Compared to
the Theme of Digging by Seamus Heaney

Prof. Dr. D. Nagarathinam

Abstract

Jallikattu is a sports festival with one-to-one sport, a bull and a man inside the ring at a time. This paper investigates on “Jallikattu” the bull taming sports festival which was a part of old Tamil culture and tradition in association with agricultural farming in Tamil Nadu. Digging poem was one of Seamus Heaney's poem which reflects the poet’s relationship to his family and appeared first in the New Statesman magazine in 1964. Through this poem “Digging”, the author explores the relationship between three generations: the speaker, his father, and the speaker’s grandfather and also the rural history of his family. Seamus Heaney as a writer, he ?nds the same link with the nature like that of his forefathers who were farmers. Both writing and farming are a blend of culture and tradition. This paper describes the struggle to bring back the Tamil tradition of Jallikattu and also compared to theme of Digging poem to reflects its tradition.

Keywords: Jallikattu, bullfight, social media, ancient tradition, Tamil culture, Ireland. Seamus Heaney, Digging, culture, farming, tradition.

1. Introduction to Jallikattu

Tamil language, a major language the Dravidian family, had a presence even around 4,000 years ago (1-3). Tamil language is spoken by the Tamil people of South India and it is an official language of the state of Tamil Nadu in India as well as two other sovereign nations, Singapore, and Sri Lanka (1-4). At present, the number of speakers of Tamil language is around 7.7 crores. This language is spoken in India, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Malaysia (5). Jallikattu has been practised for thousands of years in Tamil Nadu and it had been referred to in Sangam literature. Historical references indicate that this sport was popular among warriors during the Tamil classical period. The term ‘Jallikattu’ comes from Tamil terms ‘salli kaasu’ (coins). The word ‘kattu’ referring to the tying of prize money to the horns of a bull which was tied. Later, in the colonial period, the name was changed to ‘Jallikattu.’ Jallikattu is believed to be a tradition practiced since at least last 2,500 years. There were references of people enjoying witnessing and participating in Jallikattu in Silappatikaaram written by Ilango Adigal which was one of the five great epics of Tamil literature. There were references in two other ancient Tamil literary works like Kalithogai and Malaipadukadaam (6, 7).

The harvest festival Pongal includes a number of social, cultural and traditional events and one of the traditional sport events was Jallikattu. In Tamil Nadu, the traditional Jallikattu sport festival involving young men competing against bulls is described as one of the ancient living sports in the modern era. The figure 1 shows the Jallikattu, and the bull is jumping from vadivasal before 2009 and olden days and the tamer tried to catch the horns to tame the bull. The casualties were more in this type of Jallikattu both for men and bulls.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Prof. Dr. D. Nagarathinam
Principal
Theni Kammavar Sangam College of Tech.
Theni – 625 534
Tamilnadu, India
dnagarathinam1960@gmail.com
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