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GUMATAPURA, India: This week, dozens of exuberant villagers scooped up handfuls of cow dung to mold and throw at each other like snowballs for the Gorehabba festival, a local conclusion to India’s most important festival, Diwali.
Similar to Spain’s La Tomatina, an eccentric celebration of the local fruit’s tomato toss, residents of Gumatapura village throw something more earthy at each other: cow dung.
The festival is unique to a village where locals believe their god, Beereshwara Swamy, was born in cow droppings.
People participate in the Gorehabba festival in the village of Gumatapura, on the border of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu states in India, on November 17, 2020 (Photo: AFP / Padmanabha RAO).
Some Hindus believe that cows and everything they produce is sacred and purifying. Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pushed for greater protection of the beasts, and many Indian states have long banned their slaughter for meat.
“People from neighboring towns and districts come to participate in this festival and enjoy it,” local director Shambu Lingappa told AFP on Tuesday.
The day begins with the collection of “ammunition” from the houses of cow owners in the village, which is located on the border of the southern states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
The manure is brought to the local temple on cattle-drawn tractors adorned with marigold flowers, before a priest performs a blessing ritual.
After that, manure was poured into an open area, with men and boys wading to prepare their weapons for the coming battle.
The women and girls take cover but are at risk of “shrapnel wounds” when they try to record the revelry on their mobile phones.
Some may poop at the event, but for attendees, the festival is as much about fun as it is about the perceived health benefits.
“By lifting cow manure with your hands, many diseases are cured … and there is a strong belief that participants will never get sick,” said school teacher Mahendra.
