Tamil Nadu village celebrates Chaniyadi, a festival where men bathe in cow dung

Erode (Tamil Nadu): Talavadi Kumitapuram, a village situated on the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka border, celebrates Chaniyadi just three days after Diwali. The males of the village celebrate the festival by throwing cow dung at each other as they worship the deity of the 300-year-old Bheereshwar Temple in the hamlet.   

This year, the festival is celebrated from November 15. On Wednesday, men gathered at the village maidan where a huge quantity of cow dung was brought in a tractor and kept in a pile. They then went in the form of a procession to take a bath in the pond near Bheereshwar temple. After that, special pujas were performed in front of the sand dumped there.

On the other hand, women were seen cheering up the devotees who were seen applying cow dung to their bodies and throwing the same at other people. The villagers say they celebrate the festival for a disease-free life, for prosperous rains for agriculture, and to protect their cattle from wild animals.  

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