Sun 07 November 2021:
This weekend, jubilant crowds pelted one other with fistfuls of cow dung as part of a traditional ritual in one village to mark the end of Diwali, India’s most important Hindu festival.
Similar to Spain’s “La Tomatina” — the eccentric tomato-hurling celebration of the local fruit — residents of Gumatapura instead fling snowball-sized wads of a more earthy variety.
The Gorehabba festival begins with the collection of “ammunition” from cow-owning homes in the village, which is located on the border between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in southern India.
Tractor trolleys transport the manure to the local temple, where a priest performs a blessing ritual.
The dung is then deposited in an open location, where men and boys wade through to prepare their weapons for the upcoming combat.
Women and girls take cover, but they risk “shrapnel wounds” when they try to record the revelry on their mobile phones.
People travel from all over the world to Gumatapura every year, and for those who attend, the messy struggle is as much about fun as it is about the alleged health advantages.
Cows, and everything they produce, are sacred and purifying to Hindus.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist, has campaigned for increased animal protection, and several Indian states have long prohibited the slaughter of animals for meat.
Members of Modi’s party have advocated for the use of cow urine to prevent and treat COVID-19 and other diseases.
His government also wants to promote the use of bovine waste to make toothpaste, shampoos, and mosquito repellents.
_____________________________________________________________________________
FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:
TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent
FACEBOOK (CLICK HERE)
https://web.facebook.com/ipindependent
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
