Guest
Diwali is a festival of lights, and fireworks. But for one town, it’s a festival of excrement. Every year, the residents of Gumatapura, Karnataka celebrate Diwali in the only way that seems logical to them: collecting cow crap, and using it to beat the crap out of each other (with crap). The afternoon of ‘Gore Habba’ is spent collecting cow droppings from the local farms (they would do it in the morning, but they’re not that mental), after which a priest blesses the sacred crap, and then the ‘fun’ begins. Partially naked men wade into, in the words of Jeff Goldblum, ‘one big pile of sh*t’ before grabbing large handfuls and beating the… you get the idea. However, it’s not all fun and games. The crap festival sees tourists from all over India come, not just to see the literal sh*t flinging, but for the perceived health benefits. The blessed dung is seen to have healing powers, stemming from the ancient Hindu belief that cows are sacred. While it might work as medicine, it probably doesn’t work as deodorant. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Freedom over censorship, truth over narrative. Follow us on Facebook: Follow us on Telegram: Follow us on X:
