Skip to main content

Manjuvirattu - Siravayal


The new morning in Karaikudi was filled with Manjuvirattu excitement. 'Thanthi TV' OP van outside our hotel added to it. Had a quick breakfast at Jaintika and left immediately to Siravayal village, 2 kms from Karaikudi.

The narrow road from the highway leading towards the Jallikattu ground was filled with crowds marching, 2-wheelers with 3 heads and 4-wheelers with the bulls. Its a mega event. The bulls and fighters had to register before-hand to participate.

Bull just arrived
The bulls were brought to mini tempo vehicles. On reaching the ground the bulls tied to the tempo are let free and brought to ground. There they are tied to trees or posts before being let out for Manju virattu.
Taken inside the circle
Manju virattu registration involves the process of registering, checking bull's health. Some families are briging in their bulls much later in the day missing the registration. So they let the bulls loose in the outer pace of the circle creating ruckos among the audience. They are still in a safe zone as most of them stand on the mini tempos and on top of the 4-wheelers around.
 
Huge crowd around the circle
Manjuvirattu's scheduled start was 10 AM but we can still see bulls being brought till 12 noon. The audience were treated to colorful ice candies made of semiya and javvarisi. Pongal sugarcanes were also sold. Manju virattu is a village entertainment extravaganza.

We had to duck behind vehicles to reach our car as bulls were let loose in the parking area as they came in late. At one instance we were urges to board a tempo to escape a bull. Reached our car after an adventurous time and left straight back to Chennai
   
Closing the trip

Labels:
Location: Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, India

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Anjaneyar Temple - Gerugambakkam, Porur

 Very recently we came to know about the Anjaneyar temple built by actor Arjun is at Gerugambakkam. On a Sunday evening we drove towards this place. We need to detour from the Kundrathur main road to reach this temple and from then on we need to face a rough and patchy road. In just 5 minutes one can reach the temple. A small residential street leads to the temple. Very near it one could see few small stalls mushroomed up to sell pooja items. The vehicles have to be parked in the street near the temple gates. First is the corridor were few trees are seen.  On taking left is the entrance to the temple and you can see the Lord Anjaneyar much ahead. Here too are few trees uniformly spaced out. There is a coconut farm adjacent to this temple. There is a shelter above Lord Anjaneyar, but for that it is a open air temple. Facing Lord Anjaneyar and to the left and right corner are two shrines - one for Lord Ganesh and the other for Lord Anjaneyar's - Lord Rama, Lord Lakshmana and God...
Post a Comment
Read more

Beach - Marakkanam

Born in the coastal area one realises the beauty of the beach only in instances where you have to stay away from your place for a long time or a person from non-coastal area appreciates the beach and call you lucky for coastal nativity. When Tsunami occurred, we are sure no one wanted to live in a coastal region. Having said that, over the weekend we went on a drive while resulted in experiencing the beach, back waters and the canal in Marakanam, roughly 120 kms from Chennai and 20 kms from Puducherry. Suddenly on a Saturday morning we decided to make a short trip to Marakanam where our friend has a farm house and called us in for a visit. After completing the weekend chores and a quick lunch, we started the drive towards Marakanam. We took the Chennai by-pass route to Vandaloor and then to ECR, crossing Mahabalipuram to reach the small town of Marakanam within 2 hrs. Numerous prawn Hatcheries in this place occupy the seashore. There seems to be around 53  Hatcheries in this stretc...
Post a Comment
Read more

Dhandayuthapani Temple - Nadupalani

 Nadu Palani Murugan Temple - Achirupakkam  On a Saturday we decided to go out on a short trip and zeroed-in on Nadu Palani Murugan Temple. Less than 100 kms from Chennai, this was a long time item in the bucket list.  Achirupakkam town is where this temple is located. Achirupakkam is near Melmaruvathur. We took the Chengalpet route via Tambaram. Driving through Chromepet, Tambaram and Perungalathur was a mayhem on the Saturday afternoon traffic. We took a break at Manoj Bhavan at Mamandur. Hotel has lost the earlier charm and so was the food. As guided by a person near the hotel, just in 15 kms you can see an arch at the left side on the highway itself for Nadu Palani Murugan temple. From the arch, one has to drive into the village for 6-7 kms to reach the temple, at Perukkarani village. We had to take a ticket of Rs.50 to drive in the car to the small hillock. Around 100 steps, its a easy climb too. At the foot hill are Lord Anjaneyar and Lord Idumban on either sides fo...
Post a Comment
Read more