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Summary People in south India participated in 'jallikattu', a traditional bullfighting game.
The harvest festival of Pongal was celebrated in the south Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh which saw revelers match their strength with bulls on Monday during the traditional bullfighting sport of Jallikattu.In Madurai city of Tamil Nadu, green-uniformed men strove with the massive bovines to win prizes for themselves and display their courage. The participation was extended to nearby districts. Winners of the event were awarded bicycles.Similar celebrations were organised in Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh, with revelers striving against a cascade of bulls let loose through a barricaded lane.Jallikattu is similar to the running of the bulls that takes place every year in the Spanish city of Pamplona.In Jallikattu well fed and groomed bulls often pepped up with considerable doses of toddy (local drink extracted from palm) or arrack (country liquor) are brought to the main street or a predetermined field on the outskirts of a village.Unlike the Spanish version of the sport, the aim is not to kill the bulls but to dominate and tame them, and pluck away bundles of money or other treats tied to their specially sharpened horns.
