While Solapur’s ‘child throwing ritual’ has shocked the world, the ceremonies at the Shiva-Parvathi temple in Nidoni village in Bijapur district are evoking similar reactions.
BANGALORE: While Solapur’s ‘child throwing ritual’ has shocked the world, the ceremonies at the Shiva-Parvathi temple in Nidoni village in Bijapur district are evoking similar reactions.
The baby-throwing ritual at Baba Sheikh Umar Saheb Dargah in Musti village, south Solapur district shot to instant infamy after television channels broadcast the bizarre practice.
But a similar annual ritual exists 550 km west of Bangalore, in which a child aged between eight months and five years is thrown from the temple top, a height of about 10 to 20 feet. “This happens once a year during a festival on December 8. The ritual is being followed for 200 years,” said Bijapur deputy commissioner PG Nandakumar.
Nandakumar, however, is in an unenviable position at the moment. While he faces pressure from the government to enforce the ban on the ritual, there is opposition from the villagers against doing so.
“When I communicated the government’s decision to ban the ritual, villagers vehemently opposed it as it hurt their religious sentiments,” he said.
“We will take precautions in the coming annual fair,” he said, unsure of whether he will able to implement the ban.
Though over 80 children were flung from the temple top this year in Nidoni village, none have been hurt, villagers claimed.
A cotton sheet is spread four feet above the ground to catch the child. “There have been no cases of injury so far. Moreover why would we want to kill our own children? We are sure that God will protect our children,” villagers of Nidoni said, vehemently defending the ritual.
“Many childless couples who pray for a child often promise to throw the child from the temple top if their wishes are fulfilled. It also makes the child mentally strong and adventurous in nature. It has a psychological effect,” argued Ravindra Katti, adding there was a reason behind every religious practice.
Parents have to pay Rs100 to register for participating in the ritual. The money goes to the temple fund.
Not everyone shares the enthusiasm, though. “We have taken cognisance of the matter and have asked the news channel to provide us with a CD of the event held last December. If the ritual was performed in the presence of a government official, he will be questioned. Later we will write a letter to the government after viewing all the facts,” Shanti Sinha, chairman of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights told DNA.
“It is a scary ritual. A mishap is just waiting to happen though villagers claim that no child has been injured so far. A consensus has to be built among locals and the administration and the practice should be banned by law,” said Sanjiv Kumar, a former labour commissioner of Karnataka and now programme coordinator of International Labour Organisation
k_bhargavi@dnaindia.net
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