CM opens jallikattu arena, bats for Tamil unity
Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin on Wednesday inaugurated a Jallikattu arena stadium in Madurai district, where the sport is most famous.
Jallikattu is a traditional bull taming festival. The controversial sport is conducted during the four-day harvest festival of Pongal every year in early January.
Stalin named the stadium at Keelakarai village after his father and five-time chief minister late M Karunanidhi as the ‘Kalaignar Centenary Eru Thazhuvuthal Arangam’ and unveiled his statue.
Eru Thazuvuthal means embracing the bull in classic Sangam literature. After Stalin flagged off the first match on Wednesday, he expressed pleasure that the stadium has come up where the Sangam literature once flourished.
“For the sport steeped in Tamil culture, Eru Thazhuvuthal, the DMK [Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam] government has built this glorious stadium,” Stalin said. “I’m proud that history will have a space to say that Stalin built this for centuries old-Eru Thazhuvuthal.”
The construction of the stadium was announced in 2022 in the state assembly. Built at a cost of Rs.63 crore, it is a three-tiered stadium spread across 65 acres with a seating capacity of 5,000 spectators and is the first of its kind in Tamil Nadu.