Man versus Bull: The Case of Jallikattu in C.S.

Chellappa’s Vaadivaasal

N.SethuNarayanan¹ and Dr.V.Anbarasi²

¹PhD Research Scholar, Research and Development Centre, Bharathiar University
²Associate Professor of English, Government Arts College (A), Salem

ABSTRACT

Representation of issues concerning of man-animal relationship is one of the hottest

topics in ecocriticism but less addressed in literary works, especially in Tamil regional

writings. But C.S.Chellappa’s Vaadivaasal (1949), a novella by genre, narrates the ethical

and socio-cultural issues centered on traditional bull-taming contest, popularly known as

Jallikattu or Eru Thazhuval in Tamil Nadu. As concerned with environmental humanities, the

western ecological and philosophical terminologies like ‘anthropocentrism’ or ‘ecocentrism’

are insufficient to grapple with the context and pattern of issues centered on man-bull

relationship presented in Vaadivaasal because it has intricate connections with socio-cultural

practices of a particular society. However there are several references available in the form of

epigraphs and early Tamil classics about this centuries-old traditional sport, one could see

that there is a strong opposition, including the Supreme Court of India, against this sport. In

this context, this paper intends to address not only on the ethical issues centered around this

sport but also stresses on the importance of regional frameworks like tinai and econativism

which allows one to perceive the man-bull nexus holistically.

Keywords: Jallikattu. Animal Studies, Ecocriticism.