YERU THAZHUVUDHAL

                                 “JALLIKATTU”

        “Komatha engal kulamaatha”

This means cow mother is our goddess. The word KO has multi fold meanings. Thevaneya Paavanar in his article titled Aavum Tamilarum puts forth the greatness of cows with language as a base. The name given for cows is ‘ko’. The term ‘Ko’ also means God. The name was assigned so because of the reverence and dignity the ancient Tamils had for the bovine creatures.

Every Tamil must be familiar with Kadai ezhu vallalgal. These great generous kings served not only human beings but also other creatures. Paari Vallal magnanimously offered his throne to a creeper. Began, a great King gave a blanket to keep a peacock cosy. Ancient Tamil royals were eco conscious.

Every Tamil teacher will take pride in narrating the tale of Manu Neethi Chozhan. At the court of Manu Neethi Chozhan, a plaintiff lodged a complaint on the crown Prince for killing her child. The plaintiff knelled the bell and reported. The righteous King at once ordered for the killing of his own son in the same way, he killed the child by running over a chariot. To everyone’s surprise, the plaintiff was none other than a cow.

 We revere cows to the core; not only cows, but also all the animals. We embrace the cows most of the times. Only people who practice agriculture and animal husbandry have cows at their ‘homes’. The people of other occupations go to these houses and establish friendship through this. Cow is a means of harmony in our places.

‘Gratitude is the mother of all virtues’. We eat the colostrums of the cows, drink its milk and depend on it for agriculture and ploughing. All these things force us to acknowledge them. There is a festival called ‘Maatu Pongal’ during which we worship cows, seek blessings from them and offer food to them. Every Tamil is well aware of the fact that cow is an abode of all the Gods.

I am sure that nearly three-fourth of the Indian population is well aware of the above-specified facts.  It is hilarious that they still ban the awesome sport of Jallikattu.

Jallikattu was in practice during the Indus valley civilization. The practise of Jallikattu is not just a spectator sport but was later associated with matrimonial aspects. A girl was married to someone who embraced the bull in Jallikattu and travelled long. This is to prove his love for animals and his command over his occupation of agriculture and animal husbandry.

Aura is a power that is found much in cow. Contact with the cows helps us gain purity and powers. The aura transforms an ordinary human being into a pristine man. Embracing a bull facilitates touch with nature and is a gesture of gratifying and acknowledging its deeds. We could see many people gather and encourage the players. The practice of Jallikattu enables many good values.

We do not use neuter gender for cows. We assign the respective genders for the cows. We call bulls ‘appan’ and cows ‘ammai’. Now research has proved that the A2 milk is similar to that of human milk. I know my ancestors are intelligent. The foreign-bred cows use their fat for the cold but here it goes futile. The alternate for the fat disposal is through milk. These cows graze a lot, may give us more milk but still......

Our native cows are user-friendly. These cows gave us milk, helped us on the fields and even helped us in keeping the surroundings clean and pure. Unfortunately, we are running out of native breeds. They helped us a lot.

If we revere this animal so much, why should we harm it? Why should we throw undesirable materials on it? Moreover, if we do so, it is a blasphemy. We are known for our cordial relationship with nature. Born in such place, how will we harass animals that serve us to the core? We are not torturing them. We are just playing with them. 

NANDRI to the mass of people who gathered at different places across the globe.
Picture credit: Maheema