Telangana village holds traditional funeral for ‘God’s Bullock’

The tribals of a hamlet accorded a traditional funeral for the 'Devuni Kode', God's bullock after its death

The funeral procession of God’s Bullock in Mahabubabad of Telangana

Narsimhulupet  : In many rural areas of Telangana, any domesticated animal is considered as a family member by people. The animal is treated with respect and in some cases, when a bullock is named after a deity, it is allowed to roam free in the village and it is revered so much that farmers refrain from driving it away from their fields.

This tradition was evident in in Beelya Thanda of Narsimhulupet mandal where a bullock designated as ‘Devuni Kode’ (God’s Bullock) was given a traditional funeral after its death on Thursday.

The bullock was designated ‘Devuni Kode’, after a community elder Beelya Nayak died some years ago in Beelya Thanda (hamlet). The carcass of the “God’s bullock” was taken out in a procession on a tractor with entire village in attendance. While the youngsters danced to the tunes of a DJ belting out popular numbers, the community elders performed another traditional ritual of sprinkling water fetched through pots before the funeral cortege.

After the funeral, the tribal villagers conducted another ritual called ‘Bogu Bhandaru”, in which food is cooked with pure ghee and served at the community dinner. Interestingly, villagers would shun any alcoholic drinks for two days as a mark of respect to the “departed soul of the bovine”.