GULBARGA: The annual Mailar Mallayya fair in Mailaru village, held to celebrate the Sankranti festival, attracted more than 2 lakh pilgrims.
The village, located in Yadgir taluk, Gulbarga, celebrated the festival by tossing more than 2,000 sheep and goats from hillocks when the deity, Mailar Mallayya, was being taken in a procession from the temple. Last year, around 6,500 farm animals were tossed in a similar fashion.
Shepherds from Mailaru and villagers from nearby Yadgir taluk and Andhra Pradesh brought sheep and goats to offer to the deity. While a number of sheep sustained wounds when they were thrown from the hillocks, some of them are said to have been killed in the process.
Chandappa, who came from nearby Nalwar village, told to The New Indian Express that he attends the fair every year and offers sheep to the deity. He believed that offering sheep would help in keeping rest of his sheep free from disease.
Shankru, of Mailaru village, said that the village had always faced problems from wild animals. Hence, they offered sheep to the deity in hope that the deity would protect their livestock from any attacks.
Yadgir Tahsildar R M Natikar, who is the chairman of the temple committee of Mailar Mallayya, told that it was impossible to stop the practice as devotees were practising this custom for ages. “Sheep sustain wounds, it is inevitable,” he said.
The temple committee has earned Rs 11 lakh as revenue by auctioning the sheep offered to the deity and by collecting tax for breaking coconuts.
Village free of rooste rs, to help the Deity sleep peacefully
Mailaru is a peculiar village. There is not even one rooster or hen in the village. The villagers also do not sleep on cots. They sleep only on a bedsheet or a mat.
A village elder, Sharanayya, explained that the reason for this was that villagers believed that roosters disturb the sleeping deity in the early morning by making noise.
Legend has it that the deity, who came to the temple after winning a war with demons, slept early in the morning. Hence, the villagers gave away all their poultry.
Sharanayya also said that the villagers decided to avoid sleeping on a cot as the God himself slept on a cot.
The village is also devoid of carpenters and blacksmiths. The reasons are obvious: to help the deity sleep soundly.
