Madhya Pradesh: Villagers allow cows to trample them as Diwali ritual

People, driven by deep faith in Madhya Pradesh's Bhidawad village, lie on the ground with hundreds of cows running over them as part of Diwali rituals. People here believe that their wishes will come true if they lay down and cows are driven over them.

Ujjain: Even though India is achieving new heights of progress in the field of science and technology, there are still numerous traditions that can be termed as sheer superstition.

"Gai Gauri" is one such unique tradition among these in Madhya Pradesh. In this bizarre ritual, people in Ujjain district's Bhidawad village allow cows to run over them every year on the second day after Diwali to express gratitude to the almighty.

People, driven by deep faith, become a part of this daredevil act with great enthusiasm. A day after Diwali, the villagers here offer prayers at a temple and stay there for the entire night as part of the ritual. On the second day, cows are driven over the devotees who lay their faces down on the ground.

Hundreds of cows, considered to be the form of the divine mother, are bathed and then decorated with attractive colours and mehndi(henna).

After decorating and worshipping cows, people of the village congregate at the chowk (village square), from where a procession of people seeking vows is taken out.

Once the procession gets over, people who seek vows lie down facing the ground on the main road of the village.

Subsequently, hundreds of cows are set free to run over these devotees lying on the ground.

The villagers said that this tradition started years ago in the village, which continues even today. People in this part of the world strongly believe that their wishes will come true if they lay down and cows are driven over them.