Boy paraded naked during ritual for rain in drought-hit Karnataka village

Chitradurga, Karnataka: In yet another stark reminder of the false beliefs and superstition deep rooted in the our society, a young boy was garlanded and paraded naked to appease the rain god in Pandarahalli village of Karnataka's Chitradurga district.

The villagers adorned the boy with flowers, applied vermillion on his forehead, made him carry an idol of Lord Ganesha and walk naked through the streets of the village.

The villagers chanted hymns so that the rain god blesses them with showers.

The video of the ritual, which the locals dub as an age-old practice, shows the garlanded-boy being taken around the streets with some of the villagers leading the parade while beating drums.

"This practice has been going on for years. Even this year the rain was less. So, some villagers thought of holding this tradition," one of the villagers said.

Another resident of the village, however, remained apprehensive about this ritual. He said that he had earlier requested some people to discontinue this practice as it was a superstition.

"It is a wrong practice. The people have been doing it for ages. The moment we came to know about this we told them that it is wrong. We convinced them that this should be stopped. Now, some of them have agreed to stop this ritual. Some people are now even ready to sign on paper to ensure that this ritual is stopped," he said.

Chitradurga has been one of the worst drought-affected regions of the state, where drinking water had to be supplied for months through tankers.