In the remote village of Thalavadi in Tamil Nadu’s Erode district, the end of Diwali is celebrated, in what many would call, a strange way.
But, it is a 300-year-old festival where locals gather to mark the end of the Diwali festival.
And it includes throwing dung.
Several generations of villagers gather in the village for the annual cow dung throwing ceremony. This 300 year old festival is conducted as part of the Beereswarar temple festival on the fourth day after Diwali.
This year, as part of this festival, cow dung from all over the village was collected on Sunday morning and filled in the pit. After the ceremony of the god in the temple tank, the villagers jumped into the pit and started throwing cow dung at each other.
One of the beliefs surrounding this festival is that the pit that was used as a natural manure for many years was the place where the shivling that is now placed inside the Beereswarar temple was found.
Once the ritual of throwing cow dung is completed, this dung is then distributed to the villagers who then use it to feed their crops and believe that this improves the harvest of the year.
In Gumatapura village, on the border of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, locals mark the end of Diwali every year with the same cow dung battle. The festival, called ‘Gorehabba’ is celebrated in Karnataka. he is reported to be over a hundred years old.
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