Periya Suriyur village gets ready to host jallikattu on January 15

Periya Suriyur gears up for Pongal jallikattu on January 15 with necessary arrangements and safety measures in place.

Periya Suriyur on the outskirts of Tiruchi City is geared up to host jallikattu yet again as part of Pongal festivities this year.  The bull taming event at Periya Suriyur will be organised on the ‘ Mattu Pongal’ day on January 15 with the event organisers readying the arrangements at the venue. This will be the first jallikattu to be held in Tiruchi district in 2025.  

It has been the customary practice for the villagers of Periya Suriyur to hold the annual event on the second day of the Tamil month ‘Thai’ when ‘Mattu Pongal’ is celebrated.  The State government issued a notification recently permitting the event to be held at Periya Suriyur on January 15, said official sources. 

The organising committee members have made necessary arrangements required for holding the event at the sprawling ‘Periya Kulam’ in the village.  The stage to accommodate VIPs and officials, ‘vaadivaasal’, arena, the bull run area, bull collection area, bull holding area have been readied , said one of the members of the organising committee.

Double barricades have been laid to a certain distance in the bull run area to prevent onlookers from entering the ground when the event is underway. Arrangements for setting up the gallery were in the final stages, said the organising committee member adding that the event is to be conducted with funds mobilised from villagers. 

Bulls from various districts are to be brought to Periya Suriyur for the event. Teams from the Animal Husbandry and Health departments will be deployed at the event venue to screen the bulls and the participating tamers respectively. 

A senior Animal Husbandry department official said an animal ambulance would be deployed at the venue. Mobile medical teams would treat the injured tamers/ owners / onlookers at the event venue where ambulances would be deployed to shift the injured persons requiring higher treatment at the hospital.

The sources said a team comprising officials from various government departments inspected the venue on Monday. Police personnel would be deployed in and around the venue for bandobust duty on the day of the event.