PUDUCHERRY: No taming of bulls, no huffing and panting, no war cries, no goring to death of humans and no prizes for the winners. Yet hundreds of people, including a large number of foreigners, thronged the Kuilapalayam village near Auroville, on Tuesday morning, to watch the ‘Manju Virattu’ was held as part of the Pongal celebrations.Considered to be a type of bull racing in this part of the region, the start of festivities was marked by the arrival of the bulls, cows and calfs to the starting point, the entrance to the village, with the owners and others guiding them from 10 am onwards. The bovines were all decorated with bananas, garlands, vermillion marks on their heads and different colours sprinkled all over their bodies. A couple of animals sported small portraits of superstar Rajanikanth and actor Vijay. The animals, numbering 50, were lined up in different rows and then the village deity “Pavadarayan”, was taken around them.Just before the race, the bananas decorating the foreheads of the animals were thrown to the crowds and in turn the enthusiastic crowd threw the bananas back at the owners of the bulls.At the sound of three fire cracker shots, the bulls and cows accompanied by their owners and motivated by the cheers of the crowd, raced down the road to the interior of the village.It was a different experience for those who watched the Manju Virattu. People, including foreigners from the nearby Auroville, gathered in good numbers at the entrance of Kuilapalayam village. Occupying even the terraces of the small concrete houses, the foreigners were seen mingling with local village people and were busy photographing the villagers. The spirit of the people did not deter even as one bull ran amok and charged at a foreign lady who escaped with minor injuries.The brother and sister duo, Nick and Lea from Frankfurt, Germany, turned up as early as 9 am and were waiting for over two hours for the start of the race.“ We came here very early as we do not want to miss it. We enjoyed watching the bulls and cows all decked up for the event. It’s a rare experience for us,” the duo, who was in Auroville for voluntary work, said.Deniz, hailing from Turkey, who was here to attend a course in water therapy, said she was keen to watch the event, in which the animals were worshipped and accorded respect.An American couple, Allan Spivack and Joan Monastero, said they loved to watch the animals run at a high speed as it was rare sight for them. The couple, seen surrounded by villagers, said they were also overwhelmed by affection of the locals who turned up for cheering.On the downside, mechanisation has taken a toll on the Manju Virattu, as the bulls were rarely used for ploughing the fields nowadays. Balaraman and Ramu, two of the villagers, said the bulls were either borrowed or taken on rent from other nearby places to participate in the racing. This time only six bulls were in the race. They lamented that bulls were no longer used as tractors had replaced them. Interestingly, cows outnumbered the bulls in the racing, where nobody emerges as winners.
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