4,000 villagers attend monkey’s funeral feast in Rajgarh, MP

Over 4,000 people attended a funeral feast for a monkey in Darawari village, Rajgarh district, Madhya Pradesh, believed to be an incarnation of Lord Hanuman. Traditional Hindu rituals were observed, including cremation, ash immersion in Ujjain, and a grand twelfth-day feast.

Rajgarh: In an unusual event, more than 4,000 people on Wednesday attended a ‘mrityu bhoj (funeral feast)’ for a monkey in a village in Madhya Pradesh’s Rajgarh district. Villagers believed the monkey to be an incarnation of Lord Hanuman, and performed all rituals typically reserved for human family members.

Twelve days ago, the monkey died after being electrocuted by a high-tension power line. On November 8, villagers decorated the monkey’s bier and organised a funeral procession accompanied by a DJ, with the entire village participating. The monkey was later cremated at Shanti Dham, following traditional Hindu rites.

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After eleven days, villagers, including the village Patel, Biram Singh Sondhiya, travelled to Ujjain to immerse the ashes in the Shipra River. Priests performed the rituals, and the monkey was treated symbolically as a family member, with even the shaving of the “beard” and the traditional eleventh-day ceremony being observed.

Upon returning to Darawari, villagers organised a large funeral feast on the twelfth day. They raised nearly one lakh rupees in donations for the event. The feast included ‘puris’ prepared from about five quintals of flour, 40 kilograms of sev, curry made from 100 litres of buttermilk, one quintal of sugar, and a variety of vegetarian dishes. Invitations were sent out to neighbouring villages, and more than 4,000 people from areas within a 30-35 kilometre radius attended.

A similar incident took place in 2022, when around 1,500 residents of Dalupura village in Rajgarh district performed the last rites of another monkey. A youth named Hari Singh even shaved his head as part of the ritual mourning process. The monkey in that case was not a pet but a frequent visitor to the village. In many parts of India, monkeys are considered sacred due to their association with Lord Hanuman.

Following those rites, villagers had raised funds and organised a feast for more than 1,500 people, printing and distributing invitation cards for the occasion.