For centuries, the devotees of Mahalakshmi Amman Koil in Karur have been following the tradition of breaking coconuts on the head of devotees on the festive occasion of Aadi festival, and in spite of severe criticism of the ritual over the past few years, it was conducted yet again on August 3.
About 600 people were from different states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Uttrakhand were present at the temple to celebrate the Aadi festival.
As a part of the ritual, a priest breaks hard-coconuts on the heads of devotees.
Shanmugasundaram, a devotee narrates to The News Minute, “This is not a superstition, it is a tradition that we have been following for 14 generations. The coconuts won’t hurt the devotee as it is kept in water for one week so that it easily breaks,” he said.
On this particular day of the festival, the deity of the temple is brought back after a ritualistic bath in the River Cauvery and then the priest breaks coconuts on the heads of the devotees. On the other two days, the devotees just come and worship the deity.
Shanmugasundaram agrees that few people get minor injuries in this tradition.
This tradition is also carried out in other districts like Madurai, Coimbatore and Dharmapuri.
Watch video here.