Kuppam’s crude ‘Jallikattu’ turns a get-rich-quick lure for youth groups

Jallikattu controversy in Kuppam region leads to illegal and cruel bull-taming events with political endorsements and minimal police intervention.

On a cold evening on January 16, 2017, two emaciated bulls wandered away from the ‘Jallikattu’ event in a remote village near Kuppam. Pursued by young men attempting to capture them, the tired and intoxicated bulls ended up on the Bengaluru-Chennai railway track, and were hit by a goods train. The gruesome incident, witnessed by hundreds of villagers, helped little to curb the cruelty towards cattle in the Kuppam area.

A few years ago, as the Jallikattu controversy raged in Tamil Nadu, organisers of the ‘Mylaru Panduga’ (a lesser form of the bull-taming sport in Kuppam) emphasised that their event was not Jallikattu but simply a “Pasuvula Panduga” (cattle festival).

Following the Supreme Court’s approval of Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu, young people from numerous villages in the Kuppam Assembly constituency, which shares a long border with Tamil Nadu, openly began asserting that their version was also Jallikattu.

The Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu, with a history dating back to 400 BC, is celebrated in the presence of senior officials from the Police, Medical, and Revenue Departments, after a series of safety review meetings, and only during the Sankranti festivities.

In contrast, the Jallikattu in the Kuppam region is conducted in a disorderly and illegal manner. Ironically, it is observed randomly at any time of the year. The Kuppam area has no historical ties to the sport. It has gradually evolved from the traditional and harmless cattle festival, Kanuma, into a chaotic and illegal bull race over the past few decades.

Thanks to the widespread use of WhatsApp, organisers in around a dozen villages in Kuppam, Ramakuppam, Gudupalle, and Shantipuram mandals publicise events through attractive pamphlets in Telugu and Tamil, announcing dates and timings, along with prize money for winning bulls at various levels, with an entry fee ranging from ₹1,000 to ₹4,000. The prize money ranges from ₹1 lakh to ₹3,000, and it is estimated that organisers collect around ₹20 lakh from each event. After prize money and logistics expenses, they make approximately ₹15 lakh profit. The lure of quick and easy money has has drawn many youth groups towards the sport, turning them into organisers.

The pamphlets and other publicity material for the events prominently feature images of political leaders. For example, from 2019 to 2024, the publicity material prominently displayed the images of former Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, former Minister Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy, and local leaders from the YSR Congress Party, along with the contact numbers of the event organisers. With the change of government, the pamphlets and banners now feature the images of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, HRD Minister Nara Lokesh, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which helps organisers provide a sense of security to participants from police action. And as if as an endorsement of their claims, the police intervention too is said to be minimal, except in cases of human casualties, while casualties among cattle and injuries to participants often go unnoticed.