Occult leanings of the ash gourd

Have you come across an ash gourd/white pumpkin cut open with vermilion sprinkled across the exposed halves on the road? This member of the Cucurbita family is not only a popular vegetable used in cooking in the Indian subcontinent, but also a big part of tantric practices pre-dating Brahminical Hinduism. Many scriptures stress on the use of this vegetable for bali (sacrifice) in case a suitable animal (a male buffalo, boar, goat, sheep, rooster) is not available.

Mumbai-based anthropologist Dr Shridhar Tilve says the practice of sacrifice has been around for as long as humans have lived on this subcontinent. "Many of Shaivite sub-sects followed Aghori practices from Tantra and worshipped the occult. Blood and sacrifice was the only way of propitiating gods and goddesses."

According to him, this practice began to see resistance after the arrival of Jainism and Buddhism on the scene. "These religions shunned violence and frowned on practices that involved slaughter. As the Vaishnav sect from Central and North India began to make inroads in the East and South, the often-violent confrontations between the two sects brought acceptance of vegetarianism (at least on some days in some cases)," says Tilve, himself a respected Shaivacharya. "A practice that came into vogue was sacrificing the white pumpkin/ash gourd instead of animals," he says, adding this often meant piercing it with four sticks for legs and a small one for the tail. "Vermillion was sprinkled over the exposed fleshy halves where the moisture leads to a trail mimicking the blood of an animal."

While this practice is found across India, in coastal Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka, ash gourds are consecrated with tantric prayers and tied at the entrance of the house to ward off the evil eye. Many Udipi hoteliers in Mumbai have got that practice with them to Mumbai and ash gourds can be seen hanging outside along with long garlands of citric sweet limes or oranges. It is believed that the hanging gourds will begin to rot if an evil eye or spell is cast.