A buffalo was sacrificed in Chikili-Chilipamal village under Kalahandi district’s Koksara police station on Monday to appease the Dharni Mata (Mother Earth), the presiding deity of the village, during the Tukelmara (young lady sacrifice) yatra or Dharni yatra.
The Dharni yatra is celebrated in the village once every year. For the benefit of all, the village priest called ‘Jani’ ties a piece of rope called “Babe” to the pillar of the village deity. The buffalo chosen to be sacrificed is tied with the rope before sacrifice ritual starts. All devotees join this sacrifice ritual.
“We believe we will get respite from diseases and our village will be blessed with peace by sacrificing animals. Every year, we participate in the festival to get blessings from the deity,” said a devotee, who is an organising committee member.
Koksara PS IIC Om Prashad Patra said, “We had organised a meeting to convince people not to sacrifice an animal. The people need to change their mindset on such matters. We didn’t use force, but tried to convince people, which didn’t yield desired result.”
According to villagers, decades ego young girls used to be sacrificed and hence the yatra was named as ‘Tukelmara’. Now, a buffalo is being sacrificed every year to appease the goddess. “This happened despite the best efforts of the administration to check animal sacrifice. The number is increasing day by day mostly in rural area of Kalahandi district,” said one lalit Padhi.
More than two thousand people took part in the procession of Gramya Devi, the presiding divinity of the area. She was taken in a procession from Chikili to Chilipamal, which is the enduring residence of the goddess, amidst beats of Ture-badya, Nisan and Ghanta (traditional musical instruments).