Superstition: Women lay down for priests to walk on them in Chhattisgarh

Correspondent

NewsBits.in

RAIPUR: It was a strange sight--women lay on ground while the priests walked on them.

This spectacle was witnessed during the Madhai fair that is held in Dhamtari town in Chhattisgarh. 

Married women believe that after this ritual, they will be blessed with children. Hence, they participate in it, eagerly.

According to local residents, women gather in large numbers at the temple of Maa Angaarmoti at Dhamtari, during the fair. On the first Friday after the festival of Diwali, this ritual is performed in the temple. The 'Baiga' witch doctors, carrying flag, walk and perform the ritual.

Hundreds of women from the town and adjoining areas, including rural parts of the district, arrive to take part in the ritual. The priests who include the witch doctors, walk on the women's back. Though there is always a risk of injury to women, but the ritual has been going on for years. 

This year, the devotees were allowed after much deliberations due to Coronavirus pandemic. Those who went for a 'darshan' wore the masks. The temple is located around 14 km near the district headquarters in Dhamtari, close to Gangrel dam. The devotees also pay obeisance to the Goddess inside the temple and offer lemons and coconut.