Godman incarnation near Bangalore supplicated by cannabis

One more superstition using gods name. People getting to have Ganja using gods name as a excuse.

Read on..

In a bizarre ritual, large number of devotees visit a temple in Bangalore's Chitradurga district and smoke cannabis during an annual festival as an expression of their devotion to the deity here.

Buzz up! The temple's main deity Nayakana Hatti Tipperudraswami is said to be the incarnation of Lord Shiva.Visiting this temple during the annual festival shows how men and women consume cannabis during this festival, held in March, in the name of the strange belief.

Also related to this 800-year-old unusual ritual is a belief of some people that smoking cannabis enables the smoker to develop a better focus in the worship of the deity here.

People here believe that God favours those devotees who smoke cannabis here and they attain 'salvation' after smoking cannabis.Legend has it that Tipperudraswami came to Nayakana hatti and stayed until his last days. The God created the pyre for his cremation.

"The fair is of Guru Eppseswamy (another name of Nayakana Hatti Tipperudraswami) is being observed every year for 800 years. He attained Moksha (salvation) at this place," said Shekharappa, Member of Temple Committee.

Some of the hermits believe that cannabis should be consumed by them alone as it is the sacred offering of God.

"In our Shavana community, many people call it (cannabis) as 'Ganja' or 'Patri'. But it is none of these. It is 'Shiva Patri'. I should say that only the Shavana community should be allowed to smoke it. No other people have authority over it," said, Niranjan Swamiji, a hermit.

Though it is illegal to buy, sell or possess cannabis in the country, the fair provides an opportunity to cannabis sellers and buyers, as they can trade cannabis here without any hassle.

Source: news.oneindia.in, 10th March 2010

Bizarre superstitious ritual of lowering the infants into a 50-feet deep well

One more act of bizarre superstitious ritual still happening in India.

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Authorities have launched an awareness campaign in Maharashtra's Sangli district to rid the locals of practising bizarre superstitious rituals.

Buzz up!
Villagers in Sangli follow a ritual of lowering the infants into a 50-feet deep well with a belief it would help in increasing the life of the kids.


This ritual is very old and the villagers observe it every year on the occasion of 'Gudi Padwa' or the Hindu New Year.

The ritual had the district authorities concerned.

"This is a very old tradition, but still it is not correct to carry it out in today's age. So I've asked the SDM (Sub-Divisional Magistrate) to go to the village and talk to the villagers to discontinue this ritual," said Shyam Vardane, District Magistrate, Sangli.

This is just one of many incidents that people in various parts of India follow, especially in the rural areas.

Lack of education and awareness and prohibitive medical care often leads the people to practice bizarre rituals with a belief it would bring them good luck or prosperity or even long life.

Source: news.oneindia.in, 19th March 2010

Community boycotts woman who was touched by and outsider

One more case of bizarre superstition which is still existing in rural India.

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Want to see just how deeply superstition remains rooted even in today’s society? Visit Mangrul Chavala village, around 50km from Amravati, where a woman from the Pardhi community was ostracized from the community.

The reason: she was allegedly touched by a person from other community. The victim Parsanta Pawar lives in Pardhi Beda in Mangrul Chavala village, which is located in Nandgaon Khandeshwar tehsil. The tehsil faces acute water shortage. Due to the problem, some youngsters in the community dug a borewell in the school on the premises of zilla parishad, which was used by the Pardhi community and the school’s students.

Sources said that on January 28, group education officer Ram Halde had visited the school for an inspection. He objected to the Pardhi women taking water from the borewell and a heated exchange took place between the women, including Parsanta, and the officer. The women lodged a complaint at the Nandgaon police station where a non cognisable offence was registered against Halde.

However, what happened next was even more bizarre. Instead of rallying behind the 38-year-old Parsanta who has four children, the community held that she had become untouchable as Halde, who belonged to a different community, had touched her during the altercation. Even her husband is supporting the boycott decision taken by the community.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com, 05 Feb 2009

Dalit in India forced to eat humar excreta for daring to wear slippers

This is heights. We have heard earlier that dalits being punished for breaking some rules, which itself is wrong. Who has given the right to people to punish just based on the caste of the person. Now, to make matters worse a dalit in Tamilnadu was made to eat human shit since he breaked some rules by wearing slippers. WTF !!

Such issues should be taken seriously. The media's job is not just to report such issues. They have to take the person to the police/court and get them some justice so that such unhealthy things dont happen in future. Just by mere reporting such issues wont help. The media person as a responsible citizen of india should also help the person in getting some justice in this regard.

Read On..

Even after 60 years of Independence, there still exists a side of India that is hard to believe. A Dalit man in Tamil Nadu was forced to eat human excreta because he wore slippers in the presence of upper caste people.

"They said hereafter no one should come in wearing slippers. Arokiasamy told Anbu to put human excreta into my mouth. They hit me severely on my abdomen and shoved it into my mouth," said the victim Sadayandi.

"Even men who come by cycle have to get down and push it into the village," said his wife Nagajothi.

The police took more than a week to file the First Information Report (FIR) under the Prevention of Atrocities Act. And even after that, they were not willing to book the accused. Instead, they want the victim - who is in hiding because of fear - to prove that the crime occurred.

"If this has happened he has to come forward to give some clues and explain about the incident. Only then I can go deep into this matter," said the Deputy Superintendent of Police.

The Madras High Court has now asked for an action taken report.

A few years ago, NDTV had exposed atrocities against Dalits in the state. In many areas they are forced to remove footwear before entering the village, walls deny them access, thorny fences greet them in fields they use as toilets. Even elected Panchayat leaders are forced to quit. Thanks to vote bank politics successive governments seem to have only gone soft on dominant communities.

Politically, Dalits are a divided lot in Tamil Nadu. While the state pampers them with welfare schemes, its tacit support to human rights violations by powerful dominant communities is only making things worse.

Source: www.ndtv.com, 2nd Feb 2010

Boy applies for birth certificate, gets one for death

How do you feel when you get death certificate when you are still alive. And that too when you dont have any records of your birth. A boy in thiruvanantapuram applied for a birth certificate since he did not have one. But he got a death certificate instead. This is one more case of height of negligency of government officials in India.

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In a bizarre case, a 13-year-old boy who applied for birth certificate has been given one for death by the city corporation here.

Civic authorities said the bungle was a clerical error and steps have been taken to issue the corrected certificate.

A sixth standard student, K Muhammad, recently applied for a birth certificate from a government hospital in the city where he was born in 1997, family said.

When he received the document, Muhammad and his family members were shocked to see the form, in which the vital details were given, stated he died the day he was born.

Asked about the goof up, a senior corporation official said it was the result of a 'clerical oversight' as the section dealing with the birth and death registration was overburdened with applications.

'On an average we receive 3000 applications a day for various purposes including birth and death certificates. Recently there was a spurt in requests for birth certificates since it was required for issuing Unique ID cards by schools,' the official said.

However, remedial steps would be taken on a priority basis, he added.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com, 21st January 2010

Holy mans amazing feet on children

How can anyone let their child to be treated like this. This is as bizarre as it gets. Heights of superstition.

Read On..



A bizarre holy man has been arrested on child torture charges after horrified parents found him stamping on their youngsters' throats to cure them of colds. Self-proclaimed demi-god Jamun Yadav, 50, told police his holy Hindu powers allowed him to transfer divine energy from the soles of his feet. He said the amazing feets of magic allowed him to fight all illnesses in Katihar, eastern India. "This is scandalous and we have arrested him. The parents didn't know just what his treatment involved when they agreed to it," said police spokesman Santosh Singh. "He claims he needs no defence in court because he speaks for God. So it should be an interesting trial," he added.

Source: www.austriantimes.at, 21st December 2009

A ration card in the name of Mahatma Gandhi

Father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi got his new ration card recently :)
History rewritten. Nathuram Godse was the father of Mahatma Gandhi..

Believe it or not - the authorities in Andhra Pradesh have issued a ration card in the name of Mahatma Gandhi along with his picture!

What is more shocking is that the card named Nathuram Godse, the killer of Mahatma Gandhi, as his father. Godse, however, has been misspelt as Godsay.

Chittoor district collector V Seshadari has ordered a probe after the ration card, carrying a fictitious address, was detected during a verification drive in the district to wee out bogus cards.

The card was issued in Chuttagunta village of Ramachandrapuram mandal in Chittoor district. It carried the picture of Gandhi with the name of MK Gandhi Thatha (Thatha in Telugu means grandfather), age 65, father's name Godsay, address 15-46541, Gandhi Street, Gandhi Road. The address was that of a fair price shop owner.

Seshadari has constituted a three-member committee to probe the matter and take action against the officers responsible.

Action is likely to be taken against those who were entrusted with the task of taking photographs of the person on whose name the card is issued and affix it on the card. The revenue officials also failed to check the name and address.

This is not the first incident of its kind. In the past, bogus cards in the name of politicians, film stars, sportspersons and even Hindu Gods were detected. However, this time the officials have taken a serious note of the incident as it involved the name and picture of the father of nation.

In June, a ration card issued to one Laxmi of Vizianagaram district with a photograph of tennis star Sania Mirza was detected.

The latest incident once again exposed the collusion between the officials and fair price shop dealers. The authorities have intensified verification as several dealers have managed to get dozens of ration cards in fictitious names.

The white ration card issued to below poverty line families make them eligible to get rice at Rs 2 per kg and social security benefits like health insurance and housing.

The authorities had launched door-to-door verification campaign early this year when it was found that the number of ration cards issued in some districts exceeded the population. The number of bogus cards in the state is estimated to be 3.5 million.

Source: Hindustan Times, November 21, 2009

2000 women whipped for 5 hours by priests in Tamilnadu: video

More superstition. Once again the target is women. Massive whipping of women and even young girls. They are getting whipped like this as part of some ritual. Really dont know how many such rituals are still existing in rural India. People watching this say nothing absurd about what they saw. "Tradition is tradition", they say.

Read On and also have a look at the video..

Like every Dussera, thousands gathered to pray at a 300-year-old temple in Tamil Nadu's Namakkal district. What followed next was unspeakable horror.

Two thousand teenagers and children, some as young as 10, were whipped by the temple's priests. For five hours. The priests' explanation: This whipping is a cure-all. Some 10-year-olds were lashed for not studying enough. Others were attacked for being slow to attain puberty. And menstruating teens were hit for being impure. The priests say this is nothing new. "We have been practicing this ritual for 300 years" declares Thangavelu, a priest.

The shocking scenes were filmed by local channels, none of whom called for help. Like others in this area, they find nothing absurd about what they saw. Tradition is tradition, they say.

The women can be seen gasping for breath, many are sobbing their hearts out. But the faith is unshakeable. Radhika, a devotee, says, "We believe that when we are whipped, we will get rid of all our mental and physical ailments and evil spirits."

Source: NDTV, September 30, 2009

Bike driven over kids hand in a tamilnadu school

A teacher in Tamil Nadu did ride his bike on his students hand and stomach. Is this a school or a circus training institute. I know it can be done with practice, but are the parents sending kids to school to do such stunts. I really dont understand what the teacher want to achieve here.

Read On..

A state government run elementary school in Tamil Nadu's Villupuram district, celebrated a function by making students endure the pain of a motorcycle run over their hands. And as if this was not bad enough, a motorcycle was also driven over the stomach of a little girl.

School authorities say that it was meant to be a bravery show and was organised with the consent of the parent-teacher body. The students say they were put through the stunt several times as practice.

Ironically, this brutality on the children was witnessed by the state's High Education Minister, K Ponmudi's wife, who was there to distribute free uniforms and stationery. K Ponmudi has now distanced himself from the event.

"I have already warned them that no such incident should not happen again. We will take neccesary action. It is a rare incident," he says.

But the matter has now been raised by the Centre and child activists too are protesting.

Women and Child Development Minister, Krishna Tirath said, "It is shocking. If necessary, we will ask the child commission to probe into the matter."

The incident is a case of gross violation of children rights. Despite the presence of the state education minister wife's - who reportedly objected to these daredevil stunts being performed - no action has been taken by the government for over two weeks till Tuesday when media took up the issue.

Source: IBNLive.com, Jul 29, 2009

Indian Police threw pregnant mother from train for not paying them bribe

Police officers taking bribe is not new in India. Its their bread and butter :)
But killing a pregnant women when the lady did not pay them bribe is totally unacceptable. Such policemen should be thrown out of the department immediately.
Read On..

Two police officers in India have been arrested after allegedly throwing a pregnant woman and her three-year-old daughter off a moving train for refusing to pay a bribe of 100 rupees.

According to a police report, Ram Singh and Sudhir Singh demanded the bribe on Thursday when Dinesh Kumar Lodh and his pregnant wife Kavita attempted to carry his bicycle into the train compartment when the couple boarded a train in the Lakhimpur Kheri district of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

When Mrs Lodh said she was not carrying enough money, and instead offered a 5 rupee bribe, the railway officers allegedly pushed her from the train.

As she struggled to grab hold of the door, she fell under the wheels of the train and was killed instantly, witnesses said. The little girl, who had been sitting on her mother's lap, also fell out of the moving train but escaped with minor injuries.

Police bribes are a part of daily life in India, but this incident has caused widespread anger.

As news of the incident reached the family's village, a mob headed for the next stop - Tikuniya railway halt - where they attacked the two constables, causing multiple injuries.

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk, 21 Jun 2009

New born babies thrown off roofs to thank God : Video

How can anyone throw their new born baby from a roof of 50 feet height just for following some of their bizarre religious tradition. If by mistake the head of the child bangs to the ground directly, the child will be spot dead. Still, people in india take this risk.

Read On.. and have a look at the video also.

Religious traditions are diverse and sometimes as bizarre as they can get. A village in Solapur, Maharashtra, has a dangerous tradition of throwing newborns from a height of 50 feet onto a sheet, which is held by devotees.

The infants are thrown off the roof of the Baba Sheikh Umar Saheb Dargah in Musti village in Solapur. This is an age-old tradition practiced by couples who are blessed with a child after taking a vow at the dargah. The devotees also believe that this ritual is good for the health of the child.

“People have been following this tradition for almost 500 years now. They believe that if they throw the child from the roof then it does good to him or her,” deputy sarpanch of Musti village, Ravikiran Mehta said.

While the practice may seem dangerous and superstitious to others, the devotees strongly believe that the fall will not harm the infants. The reason given is that there has been no recorded evidence of any physical disability to the infants.

“It’s our family tradition and so we follow it,” a devotee said.



Source: IBNLive, Apr 27, 2008

Girl married to a Dog in a bizarre ritual

This is as bizarre as it gets. A young indian girl was married to a stray DOG this january for whatever silly reason. Heights of superstition. See how the little girl is sitting without knowing what is happening to her.
Read On..

VILLAGERS in India have "married" off a young girl to a stray dog to ward off an evil spirit which they believed was threatening the family.
The locals at Munda Dhanda village in Jharkhand state, performed the ceremony as they believe it will overcome any curse that might fall on the family.

Interestingly, the girl is free to get married later in life to a man without even seeking a divorce.

Superstitions are widespread in India, especially in rural areas where literacy is scarce.

Source : www.news.com.au, January 27, 2009

A 10-year-old girl in an Orissa village was sacrificed for good harvest

We have been hearing various superstitions people follow in india for the reason god knows. Here is one of such superstition where a grandfather killed his granddaughter so that he can mix her blood in his field by which he believed he would yield a better crop in his farm. Disgusting.
Read On..

A 10-year-old girl in an Orissa village was beheaded by her grandfather, who believed that sowing seeds mixed with her blood would yield a bumper crop, police said on Monday.

The barbaric incident, spurred by age-old superstitions, took place on Sunday at the tribal-populated Adapathar village in Sambalpur district, over 450 km from Bhubaneshwar. The heinous crime came to light after villagers caught the man, Rajesh Hembram, and handed him over to the police.

Hembram, 52, has around three acres of agricultural land. To get a good harvest, he had planned in advanced to sow seeds mixed with the blood of his granddaughter on Akshaya Tritiya on Monday, a day considered auspicious by Hindus, police said.

"He cut off his granddaughter Bernaka Kandulana's head with an axe in a room when nobody was at home and drained her blood into a pot," P C Nayak, inspector in charge of the local police station, told IANS.

"We found some seeds in a steel pot that were mixed with blood," he said. "The man has been arrested and has confessed that he kept it to sow in his field on Akshaya Tritiya," he said.

Bernaka's head and the remaining part of the body were also found in the same room, the official added.

Source: www.hindustantimes.com, April 27, 2009

A couple in UP forced to become siblings on having an affair

In which century we are living? Even in the 21st century such things happen in our India.
Read On ...

Repeatedly slapping a love-struck couple with shoes for their 'illegitimate' love affair, an Uttar Pradesh village council forced them to tie a rakhi and become siblings, police said.

The incident occurred late Wednesday in Kukra village in Bijnor district, about 350 km from here.

Pintoo Sharma, 30, and his 28-year-old lover were brought before a village panchayat when they were found sitting together in a garden on Wednesday evening, locals said.

"Initially, the duo were asked to slap each other; when they refused some members of the panchayat and villagers started beating them with shoes on their faces," Hardhar Kumar, a local, told reporters.

"Later, Sharma was forced to touch the woman's feet as a sign of acknowledging her as his elder sister, while the woman was made to tie a rakhi on his hand. As a part of their punishment, the panchayat also ordered them to move to different villages," he added.

Source : Times Of India,15 October 2009