Thousands of protesters have have taken to the streets in southern India against a court ban on a traditional bull-taming sport.
The sport, known as jallikattu, forms part of the festivities surrounding the Tamil New Year harvest festival season of Pongal, which was celebrated at the weekend.
Animal rights activists have long opposed the activity, pointing to injuries it causes to bulls as well as human deaths during the festival.
The Supreme Court banned jallikattu in 2014 and no events have been held since then, for the first time in centuries.
About 4000 people, mostly young, started protesting on Tuesday night at the Marina beach in the Tamil Nadu state capital Chennai demanding permission to allow the bull-taming events.
"Jallikattu is part and parcel of our Tamil culture and heritage for centuries," an activist told reporters.
Tamil political parties have also backed the resumption of the sport, arguing the animals are not subjected to cruelty as they are specially trained for the event and well looked after following the festival.
Similar demonstrations took place in the cities of Coimbatore and Madurai, where dozens of people had been detained by authorities.
Government ministers were holding talks with the protesters, who have also demanded a ban on animal rights groups such as People for Ethical Treatment of Animals.
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