VELLORE: The sight of a man walking around with five metres of dried animal intestines with its lungs and liver in tow might have been gruesome, had it not been for the simple fact that he was swathed in a large black sari, his face painted a similar shade and eight terracotta arms attached: This was 17-year-old Naren's tribute to the goddess Kali, as he adorned the garb of 'Eashwari' for his fourth outing at the annual 'Mayana Kollai' festival in Vellore.
Held right after the Mahashivratri night, this year the 'looting of the dead' (as Mayana Kollai literally translates to) turned into an area rivalry for whose chariot should get prime space in the appointed graveyard, on the Palar river bank. Chariots bearing the statuettes of the goddess were brought in from each area, escorted by transgenders and young men decked up like various avatars of the goddess of destruction.
This year, though there was a considerable crowd turnout, the custom of using freshly extracted entrails from the sacrificed goats was done away with. Almost all the deity escorts chose to use predried cow intestines. Revealed Mani, a veteran of 25 years, "I have given up using live parts because people get scared and the stench is very bad. These days the intestines are cleaned and dried two weeks in advance," and added, "the lungs and liver are fresh from the beef shop."
This has not, however, stopped the customary goat and chicken sacrifices. As the goats were dragged away, one of the men said, "quarter kilo of mutton would be given to each house in the area."
Sadly, as the men who made the sacrifice were inebriated, the slaying was drawn out and bloody. Chickens had their heads ripped off and the blood spat on devotees by the people making the sacrifice. With an almost nonexistent Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) locally, one wonders if such practices will ever be questioned.
With a massive turnout of women in the afternoon and the mercury rising to a monthly high of 35.4 degrees Centigrade, plenty of women fainted and needed revival. Heavily costumed deity lookalikes also met with a similar fate. Though there was no medical assistance at hand, a water tanker sent by the Corporation was a godsend for the masses.
Despite all TASMAC outlets keeping shutters down to avoid the risk of violence, an unobstructed supply of liquor at hiked prices and alternative stimulants such as toddy and arrack ensured that fisticuffs kept breaking out at regular intervals.
As 450 policemen were assigned to the festival detail, no major untoward incidents were seen. Vellore SP TS Anbu felt that keeping several sensitive areas barricaded made the difference, especially after two major spats were recorded last year. All other shops downed shutters and traffic was affected in a big way in the town.