Naked Ayyappa worshippers flee after villagers object

A group of four ‘naked’ Ayyappa devotees, who were worshipping the deity, were forced to flee a village in Kalaghatagi taluk on Thursday
A picture of Ayyappa devotees offering prayers in the nude | Express
A picture of Ayyappa devotees offering prayers in the nude | Express

KALAGHATAGI : A group of four ‘naked’ Ayyappa devotees, who were worshipping the deity, were forced to flee a village in Kalaghatagi taluk on Thursday.

They were camping near an agriculture field at Madakihonnalli village in Kalghtagi and worshiping the Lord ‘completely naked’ for the last 15 days. 

Ramesh, a senior devotee of Ayyappa who is often referred to as ‘Guruswami’, defended the ‘nude’ worship saying that there was nothing unnatural in offering prayers to Lord Ayyappa. “This is part of a 41-day Mandala Vrata and they were doing it with ‘Hata Yoga’. They were offering pooja to the deity naked without considering cold, rain and heat. It is strongly believed that if anyone observes Mandala Vrata with Hata Yoga, his wishes will be fulfilled at the earliest,” he said.

However, there was a public outcry following the pictures of ‘nude’ devotees offering prayers went viral in Hubballi and Dharwad. While some senior devotees claimed that there is no such nude offering while worshiping Ayyappa and what is going on in Kalaghatagi is nothing but superstition.

When Express visited the site of worship, the ‘naked’ sadhus were packing off. The four devotees abandoned their ‘Vrata’ following the objection raised by villagers. They used to stay inside an artificial cave, which was created specially for them. They used to take part only in morning and evening prayers and the remaining time, they used to be in the cave. “The Ayyappa worship site is in the middle of a field.

It is far from the village and not easily accessible. There is no point in public outcry,” said Ramesh.
An Ayyappa devotee from Hubballi termed the practice as absurd and illogical. “The four devotees, who were involved in the ‘unnatural’ worshiping hail from Dharwad, Haliyal and Mundgod. There are no such practices among Ayyappa devotees anywhere in India. Such acts must be condemned,” he said.

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