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Devotees break coconut over their heads to
appease God in Tamil Nadu

     Dharmapuri (Tamil Nadu): In a unique ritual, a priest broke coconuts over the devotees' heads during a temple festival in a village in Dharmapuri District of Tamil Nadu, as part of their abeyance to the deity. The ritual, which is unique to the festival of Veerapathiran Samy temple, is an annual ritual in which hundreds of devotees participated on Wednesday at Parvathanullur village By breaking the coconuts over their heads, the devotees pay gratitude to the deity for fulfilling their wishes. "The people of around seven-eight villages got together to celebrate this Veerapathiran Samy temple festival. Hundreds of the devotees come here and break coconuts on their heads for offering prayers to the deity. Devotees taking part in this ritual should maintain some devotional discipline then only the coconut will break, otherwise, they might suffer injuries," said Muniyappan, the temple priest. If a devotee gets hurt during the breaking of coconut over his head, it is believed that he failed to follow the strict religious regimen and hence the Gods punished him. "We have to observe fasting at least one week before taking part in the ritual for breaking coconut on our heads. I have come from Bangalore to take part in this ritual. I broke my head and I feel I have not followed proper discipline required to carry out the ritual. I feel it was God's punishment for me," said Kumarasean, a devotee. Every year, hundreds of devouts come from all parts of the state to take part in this ritual, which is believed to be centuries old.
- Sep 11, 2008

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