TIRUCHY: All colours and no sound!
Deepavali in Thoppupatti and Sampatti near Manapparai is a far cry from the celebrations the world around, for the villagers refrain from bursting crackers to protect the tens of hundreds of fruit bats roosting on two banyan trees in their villages.
The belief that the bats are the incarnation of their clan deities, passed on through generations, is so deep-rooted in the mind of the villagers that even the bubbly young ones like 12-year-old B Vishwa and 13-year-old R Matheshwaran would abide by the unwritten rule.
Matheswaran, a class 8 student at a government high school in Aanapatti and a resident of Sampatti, said every year he would go to his maternal grandmother’s house in Seegampatti to burst crackers. On the other hand, Vishwa, studying in class 7 at a government high school in Poolampatti, said he has learned to make do with sparklers, as his father would buy him only those during the festival.
It’s not just for Deepavali; Thoppupatti villagers would stay away from crackers even during temple festivals, marriages, funerals and the like to not disturb the bats perched on the banyan tree near the Muniyappan Swami temple.
Ask S Pandian (26), a new generation farmer and a resident of the village, and he would say he doesn’t have any idea how long the people have been following the custom of worshipping the flying mammals as deities. “We cannot give an exact count of the bats nesting on the tree, but their number could run into a thousand,” he told TNIE.
The forest department also has no count of the bats on the tree.
Unlike the case in Thoppupatti, the Sampatti residents know since when they have been protecting the bats. A Oomaidurai (60), priest of Ariya Perumal temple in Sampatti, said they had been protecting the bats for nearly 20 years. He said the bats had arrived in the village from Azhagar Malai in Madurai.
“We celebrate the annual festival of the Ariya Perumal temple after visiting the Azhagar Malai temple in Madurai, as Azhagar is our clan deity. About two decades ago, when the villagers returned from the temple, they believed Lord Azhagar had accompanied them and settled on a tree near our temple after taking the form of bats, as several bats were found at Azhagar Malai too. Following a decision by the village head, we stopped bursting crackers and began worshipping the bats as our deity,” he said.
Q Ashoka Chakkaravarthy, wildlife conservation biologist and visiting professor of Ecology and Environment, said apt environment, no human disturbance, and availability of food are the reasons for the mammals to continue to roost on the trees for years. Even a small sound is enough to chase them away. Beyond this, one can ascertain the exact reason for their long stay if an environmental impact assessment (EIA) is conducted, he added. The long presence of bats in the same tree is usually an indication that it offers a stable, safe habitat with favourable living conditions, he said.
P Veeramalai, a resident of Thoppupatti, expressed concern over the declining population of the mammals. He suspected that the trend could be due to a stone crusher operating in a nearby village. “The government should take initiatives to protect the species,” he appealed.
