Pulikulam

What do Pulikulam cattle look like?

Pulikulam is a zebu breed, which places it among the humped domestic cattle of India rather than the humpless kinds of Europe. Its home is the dry farming country of southern Tamil Nadu, around the districts of Madurai, Sivagangai and Virudhunagar. The name points to Pulikulam, a village in Sivagangai district. In its own country it answers to a handful of Tamil names, one of which marks it as the animal of the Jallikattu arena. It is regarded as indigenous to India, and its standing there rests on hard-country performance: it counts among the drought-tolerant cattle of the South. Bulls from this breed are popular choices when owners pick stock for the bull-taming arena.

Where does the Pulikulam come from?

The breed is named for Pulikulam, a village in Sivagangai district of Tamil Nadu, and that is where the name begins even if the animals range wider. They are also raised in the neighbouring districts of Madurai and Virudhunagar, in the same southern stretch of the state. In Indian terms, Pulikulam is classed as an indigenous breed, meaning one that developed in India itself rather than arriving from abroad in modern times. Its scientific grouping, Bos indicus, puts it on the zebu branch of the cattle family, the humped kind found across the subcontinent. The Tamil names circulating in its home districts sketch a breed shaped by local work rather than by paperwork.

What the Pulikulam is known for

Among the cattle of South India, Pulikulam counts as a drought-tolerant breed. Where rains are patchy and grazing dries up for long stretches, stock that keep going on little water are what farmers need, and that hardiness is the breed's chief reputation. Its bulls have a second calling: they are popularly taken to the Jallikattu arena, where they are well-regarded entries. Between dry-country toughness and arena work, this is a practical animal shaped by the demands of the southern countryside.

What the Pulikulam is kept for

Pulikulam is best known for one use: its bulls are popular entries in Jallikattu, the bull-taming contest of Tamil Nadu. So close is that link that one of the breed's Tamil names names the contest directly. In the arena, competitors try to hold on to a bull for a short span. Away from the contest, this is dry-country village stock, valued by South Indian farmers for the way it carries on through drought. That hardiness is what keeps the breed in everyday use in its home districts, where the rains are never guaranteed.

The land and climate of the Pulikulam

Pulikulam belongs to the dry middle country of southern Tamil Nadu, in and around Sivagangai, Madurai and Virudhunagar districts. The breed's noted drought tolerance points to the kind of country it serves: land where grazing can thin out and water runs short for part of the year. Being listed among the drought-tolerant cattle of South India means it is expected to hold its own through lean seasons, which is why farmers there keep it.

The Pulikulam at fairs and festivals

Pulikulam bulls are popular picks for Jallikattu, the bull-taming contest of Tamil Nadu, and the bond between breed and event runs deep. In the arena, competitors attempt to hold a bull still for a brief time, and keepers turn out the animals they trust for the task. Outside the contest season, the same cattle are dry-country farm stock in Sivagangai, Madurai and Virudhunagar districts, working the thin grazing of the southern plains.

Custom and folk tradition

In its home districts the breed answers to several Tamil names, words used by the people who keep it. The best known of them names the Jallikattu contest directly, a reminder of the work its bulls are famous for. Others are heard from district to district, shifting with the locality. For farmers around Sivagangai, Madurai and Virudhunagar these are the everyday terms for the animal, and they bind the breed to its ground and its work more closely than any formal title.

From the Pulikulam

Questions people ask about Pulikulam

Good reading and sources

• Pulikulam cattle approved as indigenous breedThe Hindu, Article

• Pulikulam on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data