KUMTA(UTTARA KANNADA DIST): Here is a unique religious practice. Thousands of devotees throng the Rayeshwari Kamakshi Devi Temple in Kumta and dip their hands in boiling oil to fulfil their vow. At least a thousand people visited the temple recently where a grand puja was organised for the deity.
After the puja ended, the priest came out and threw flowers around a pan which had boiling oil and ‘vadas’ in it. The much-awaited event commenced with a person coming in front of the stove where the oil was being heated. After bowing to the deity, he immersed his fingers into the hot oil, took out the ‘vadas’ floating in it and bowed again to the deity. Surprisingly, he did not sustain any burns.
The event went on with hundreds of people fulfilling their vow. Devotees said it is a miracle and has been in practice for ages. “If nothing happens to the person who immerses his or her hands in the oil, it means that the Goddess has blessed him or her,” said a priest.
Raju Naik, a devotee who has been visiting the temple each year to participate in the ritual, said, “Any person who prays to the Goddess seeking her blessings and makes a wish, visit this temple and fulfils his or her vow by performing this ritual,” he explained.