Dung-slingers aim at peace

The festival that follows Diwali every year is celebrated exclusively by the Kannada-speaking community of the village in Erode district of Tamil Nadu. The celebration is to send a message of harmonious co-existence in society.

The youth and children had gathered in front of the Beerappa temple where nearly nine truckloads of cow dung was heaped early in the morning. The celebration began with worshipping the deity, Karappa a kilometre away from the village.

Later, the ‘Kondigekara’ (Chadikora), wearing a moustache and beard made of grass, was brought on a donkey in a grand procession accompanied by dance, hoots and whistle of the enthusiastic youth and children of the village.

The procession culminated near the temple where the dung was piled up and after the worship came the main event - the participants began slinging the balls of dung at each other with shrieks of delight.