Jallikattu: A Tradition started by Bhagwan Shri Krishna !
Jallikattu: A Tradition started by Bhagwan Shri Krishna!
Jallikattu is a sport of bull-taming or bull-grappling. In this sport, an agitated bull is released into the playing arena from an enclosure. The participants athletically leap on the bull, either trying to subdue it, or hold on to its hump long enough to grab the bag of coins tied to the bull’s horns as prize. These days, instead of a bag of coins, a token cloth is tied to the horns.
The ancient Tamil Sangam literature (3rd century BCE – 4th century CE) mentions bull-grapping as popular sport amongst the Velir chieftains who ruled in different parts of the ancient Tamil State . The Velirs or Ay-Velirs (the prefix Ay denotes the Ayar cowherd community) belonged to the Yadava dynasty of Krishna, who had migrated southwards, most probably after the collapse of the Indus Valley civilization (starting at around c.1900 BCE) and settled in different parts of Southern India. The relation between the Velirs and the Yadava dynasty of Krishna is testified by the Sangam Literature as well as multiple copper-plate charters of the Tamil kings.
In the book, Temples of Krsna in South India, T. Padmaja has made a very interesting observation:
"A verse in Kalithokai says that an Ay girl would not marry the man who was afraid to face a bull fight. This shows that ‘it was a custom in the cowherd community for young girls, until they were married, to select their own bulls from the common stall and to tend them. The bulls would then be let loose, and which ever young cowherd could successfully bring the beast under control in an open contest, was deemed the proper life-partner for the girl. Apparently, it was one of the ancient wedding customs of the Ayars. This custom also can be traced to their family deity Krsna, who curbed the fury of seven bulls coloured black, white and brown and married the girls who were tending them.’
So, apparently, bull-grappling, had not only started off as a wedding custom amongst the Ayar cowherd community, but the tradition was begun by Lord Krishna. This explains why jallikattu is most popular in Madurai, a city that is said to derive its name from Mathura, the place of birth of Krishna. Since the Indus Valley seals depicting bull-leaping / bull-taming have been dated to c.2600 BCE, we can infer that the era of the Mahabharata war and of Lord Krishna must have been prior to c.2600 BCE.
During the Late Bronze Age, bull-leaping and bull-taming begun to appear in other parts of the world such as Syria / Turkey, Egypt and Crete. This raises the question if migrating Indus tribes took this custom to distant lands, after the Indus Valley civilization began to collapse at around 1900 BCE due to a host of environmental factors.
Santoshkumar B Pandey at 1.13pm
The ancient Tamil Sangam literature (3rd century BCE – 4th century CE) mentions bull-grapping as popular sport amongst the Velir chieftains who ruled in different parts of the ancient Tamil State . The Velirs or Ay-Velirs (the prefix Ay denotes the Ayar cowherd community) belonged to the Yadava dynasty of Krishna, who had migrated southwards, most probably after the collapse of the Indus Valley civilization (starting at around c.1900 BCE) and settled in different parts of Southern India. The relation between the Velirs and the Yadava dynasty of Krishna is testified by the Sangam Literature as well as multiple copper-plate charters of the Tamil kings.
In the book, Temples of Krsna in South India, T. Padmaja has made a very interesting observation:
"A verse in Kalithokai says that an Ay girl would not marry the man who was afraid to face a bull fight. This shows that ‘it was a custom in the cowherd community for young girls, until they were married, to select their own bulls from the common stall and to tend them. The bulls would then be let loose, and which ever young cowherd could successfully bring the beast under control in an open contest, was deemed the proper life-partner for the girl. Apparently, it was one of the ancient wedding customs of the Ayars. This custom also can be traced to their family deity Krsna, who curbed the fury of seven bulls coloured black, white and brown and married the girls who were tending them.’
So, apparently, bull-grappling, had not only started off as a wedding custom amongst the Ayar cowherd community, but the tradition was begun by Lord Krishna. This explains why jallikattu is most popular in Madurai, a city that is said to derive its name from Mathura, the place of birth of Krishna. Since the Indus Valley seals depicting bull-leaping / bull-taming have been dated to c.2600 BCE, we can infer that the era of the Mahabharata war and of Lord Krishna must have been prior to c.2600 BCE.
During the Late Bronze Age, bull-leaping and bull-taming begun to appear in other parts of the world such as Syria / Turkey, Egypt and Crete. This raises the question if migrating Indus tribes took this custom to distant lands, after the Indus Valley civilization began to collapse at around 1900 BCE due to a host of environmental factors.
Santoshkumar B Pandey at 1.13pm
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