Golla children walk barefoot to school to avoid paying hefty fine for purification rituals

Steeped in superstitions, residents of Gollarahatti settlements across Chikkamagaluru district believe that a member of the community is defiled if they come in contact with the shoe or slipper worn by others.

Chickmagaluru: Students from Golla community walk barefoot to their government high school in Gerumaradi Gollarahatti in Tarikere taluk, despite receiving free shoes from the government.

Steeped deep in superstitions, residents of Gerumaradi Gollarahatti and other Golla community settlements across Chickmagalur district believe that a child is defiled, on coming into contact with the shoe or slipper worn by others. "Thus students from Gollarahatti fearing the consequences of being defiled and paying a hefty fine for purification rituals have stopped wearing footwear to schools," a teacher serving in the school informed on conditions of anonymity

The school has 80 students and majority of them are from Gollarahatti. A few students are from Bovi and Banajiga communities. "A student from Gollarahatti who has been defiled, is forbidden from entering the colony. The cost of cleansing rituals that follow including Ganga pooja is estimated around Rs 5,000. This entire purification expenses are borne by the parents of a child whose shoes had touched the child from Gollarahatti," a teacher said.

Most parents are economically poor. It is the cleansing expenses that had acted as a huge deterrent and forced parents to send their children barefoot to the school. Teachers who attempted to convince parents in the past had been silenced when asked on whether they would pay for the purification expenses if their children from Gollarahatti ended up being defiled.

Even teachers take many precautions to ensure that their footwear does not come into contact with the children from Gollarahatti. For they too are not exempted from cleansing rituals.

Two temples in Gerumaradi Gollarahatti closed indefinitely

Poojas have stopped and two temples in Gerumaradi Gollarahatti in Tarikere taluk have remained close for past three days after residents accused a youth from Madiga community of trespassing into their colony. A few days ago one Maruthi from MC Halli who had stepped into the colony to complete excavation works with help of his bulldozer was assaulted by a group of residents accusing him of defiling their colony.

Police had registered a case against 15 residents and one resident had been arrested so far. Close on the heels of defiling incident, Kambada Ranganatha swamy and Thimmappa temples had remained closed without witnessing any poojas. Residents informed that as according to a belief members from Adi Karnataka community are forbidden from entering their colony. "If they enter our colony, they will have to face the wrath of our deities," residents said.

The residents elaborating on cleansing process informed that villagers with the deities walk barefoot towards Kallathagiri waterfalls, located 15 kms away from the village. Then the idols are re-installed in the shrine after elaborate rituals," residents added. Now all purification rituals have been kept in abeyance as scores of visitors including police officials, dalit leaders among others are visiting the area daily, residents added.