Risking death, Indians mess with the bull at annual festival

Participants try to control a bull during an annual bull-taming 'Jallikattu' festival in Palamedu village on the outskirts of Madurai on January 16, 2026.[AFP]

A construction worker by trade, Saravanan B waited all year to celebrate his true passion daring bare-hands bullfighting that has never gone out of fashion in India's south.

Known as jallikattu, the centuries-old tradition is kept alive  at annual harvest festivals in India's Tamil Nadu state, despite regular injuries and even deaths as a result of the often dangerous sport.