Over centuries, residents of Choradi village in Udupi district have been following a strange custom. They don't use cradles to put their babies to sleep as they believe that a snake appears if anyone dares to tie a cradle in the house. “We make children sleep on a traditional wooden cradle with short legs. We place a coconut shell below the two legs of the cradle and rock it. We never tie the cradle with a rope or use a beam to swing it,” they say.
The hand that rocks the cradle no doubt rules the world but where are the cradles in lush green Choradi village in Udupi district? Look around for them and you will be severely disappointed for villagers here have said a strict no to swinging cradles for centuries. All because they believe that Goddess Nagarathi (a divine serpent) gets annoyed if she finds a swinging cradle in the village.
So what do doting moms do with their kids when they cry to be put to sleep? Sadhu alias Shekhar Shetty explains the mystery. “Children are either made to sleep on the bed, on the ground or have to sleep on the wooden cradle on the ground. But no one swings the cradle," he says. The villagers have a strong reason to stick to this practice over the years because they say a snake appears if anyone dares to tie a cradle in the house.
In Choradi , you can find everything an infant needs-the feeding bottle and walker but no cradle. There are wealthy families here who can afford costly cradles but prefer not to have one. Not only cradles, even traditional swings to place curds and swings at chicken farms too are banned.
People in Choradi, situated about 25 km from Udupi city, mostly depend on agriculture. Paddy, areca and coconut palms greet any visitor to the place. There are not many of them except those coming to pray at Sri Nagarathi and Sri Charurathi temples. An asphalted road is the only route to this village which has about 200 houses and is part of Avarse Gram Panchayat.
The Nagarathi shrine on the banks of a small rivulet, has Goddess Nagarathi in Linga form with a few Naga stones on the temple platform. It has a compound wall and a dhwaja stamba but no roof.
"The sky is the roof and rain is the natural abhishekam for this Goddess" the temple archak says. Villagers revere the Goddess which is all the more reason for them to stick to the ban. There is an oracle too once in a year during Makara Sankramana at the shrine.
Almost every household in the village has a unique story to narrate. "As we cannot swing the cradle, we make children sleep on a traditional wooden cradle with small legs. We place a coconut shell below the two legs of the cradle and rock it. However we never tie the cradle with a rope or use a beam to swing it," says Shekhar.
Shekhar's wife has a lot of interesting things to reveal about the ban. "The ban in only in Choradi village, though we were born there, we are now settled about 4 kms away and the ban is not prevalent where we live now. However we still do not use a cradle. Once I felt like tying a cradle for the kids and asked the oracle at Nagarathi temple who did not support the idea. Our grandchildren who were born in other villages, too have not slept in a swinging cradle," she says, adding, "We cannot break the tradition despite being away from the village. Many families who live outside the village continue to follow the tradition as we originally belong to Choradi."
The practice has its flip side too. Children born in Choradi feel uncomfortable if they are made to sleep in cradle when they go to a relative’s place! "They feel breathless as they are not used to sleeping in a swinging cradle," she adds.
There is another belief attached to the ban on swinging cradles.
"Swinging denotes happiness and prosperity. Some people believe that Goddess Nagarathi becomes unhappy if people swing cradles because she still does not have a proper temple dedicated to her. Renovation and construction of the new temple is next to impossible as it has to be done within 24 hours (between the two morning poojas) as per tradition," a villager explains.
Temple priest Mr Venkatramana Adiga asserts that the belief exists since centuries."No cradle is tied in the village. Nor has anyone come in recent years requesting us to allow them to tie the cradle. The Goddess is in the form of a small Linga here. As she is on the ground, there is a belief that there should not be a swing or cradle (above the ground) in the village," Adiga explains.
So for good or bad, the tiny tots of Choradi will miss the swinging cradle for years to come. For tradition still rules the heart of rural India where people embrace their age-old practices like a lifeline amidst the decline of old world charma
