It is unusual to hear people worship the genitals of the goddess where the temple celebrates menstruation which is surprising to hear, as menstruation is viewed as a sensitive topic to speak out and people show weird faces when they hear about menstruation. Certainly there is an another temple in Southern Part of India where you either kill or get killed especially during Dussehra.
Devaragattu Temple, located in Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh is one such temple which is famous for its Banni festival which is held during Dussehra. This festival is celebrated by equipped devotees i.e you need lathi sticks for this festival which is weird to hear right ??? This ritual starts from mid night and devotees hit each other on their heads with lathi sticks. The story behind this festival is that God Malleshwara Swamy and Goddess Malamma kill the demon. Devotees believe that hitting each others on their head with lathi sticks kills the demon in them which is totally idiocratic. This ritual is mostly participated by men especially farmers and they don't care if their shirts are drenched in blood. This ritual continues till the break of dawn.
https://youtu.be/r3lsgfR-28U
According to devotees this festival is like dandya for them for which they dance with their broken heads. It seems that in older days, devotees used axes and spears which is really horrifying to me. The statistics according to district police show that 113 were injured in 2012 and 34 were injured in 2013.
Police and other officials are not able to stop this ritual as the devotees wanted the tradition to be continued which is worse. This ritual happens till date and devotees enjoy hurting others and bleeding till dawn.
- PENNARASI. R
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