KURNOOL: Offering harmless creatures like goats, sheep and other animals to God is common in rural areas. But in Kodumur town of Kurnool district, devotees offer live scorpions that can sting as ‘naivedyam’ and even garland God with the same creatures.
This practise has been in vogue for the past 50 years in Kodumur town. The scorpion festival is celebrated in a grand manner at Lord Venkateswara temple on the hill nearby the town on the third Monday in Sravana Masam every year. It is believed that the sting of scorpions, which is diabolic on other days, does no harm to people on this day.
Temple management committee president Manohar Reddy said around 7,000 devotees from across the district had darshan of Lord Venkateswara in Kodumur this year. All devotees try to catch scorpions beneath the rocks on the hills and offer a garland made of reptiles to the Lord.
Why a scorpion sting doesn’t hurt
It is believed that the sting of scorpions, which is diabolic on other days, does no harm to people on this day. Devotees including childless couples visit the Kondarayudu (Lord Venkateswara) and seek his blessings for the fulfilment of their wishes.