Jallikattu - from tradition to trending on Social Media
Posted on: 06/Jan/2017 5:48:25 PM
CHENNAI: Ever since the ban on Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu by the apex court in 2014, there have been a lot of support from various corners protesting to conduct the event, in spite of outburst of fury from various animal welfare groups.
Although there are apparently people who are against Jallikattu as well, it is quite evident as seen on social media posts that people who are supporting the event are on the raise. There is a significant increase in number of posts pertaining to Jallikattu and with several hashtags trending, it has definitely emerged a social media phenomenon among Tamilians on Facebook.
Many of the people on social media who are striving to repeal of the ban say that Jallikattu is an integral part of the Tamil culture and the ban on it is directly against the exercise and expression of their culture.
There are a lot of Facebook groups that condone the tradition with a great flow of followers especially in the past couple of months since the harvest festival of Pongal is fast approaching. What is more intriguing is the fact that most of the people who like and share these posts on the top social media platform are urban dwelling white collars. Several e-commerce businesses that sell souvenirs, t-shirts, mugs and coasters have also jumped on the band-wagon to make the most out of the current trend. Many of these small online stores say that posters and t-shirts with images of rampaging kangayam bulls are best sellers. One could witness pro-jallikattu fans sporting t-shirts showing their support in cities like Chennai and Madurai.
In many of these groups, contributors share digital painting of bulls, images, articles to create more awareness about Jallikattu. According to one of the editors of HCL e-learning, a lot of these posts gets shared more than 30 times on average even in smaller groups which is quite considerable. The word “Yeruthazhuval” or “Yeruthazhuvuthal” is also quite popularly used in these groups synonymous with “Jallikattu” since it was the term used in Sangam literature, Kalithogai to refer to the traditional bull taming sport.
With Pongal just around the corner all the efforts could end up futile and the Supreme Court will likely not lift the ban on Jallikattu. However, we can certainly conclude Jallikattu has become a huge social media phenomenon in Tamil Nadu this season.
