Madhya Pradesh: Of Rains And Superstition-Fuelled Rituals

Dhar (Madhya Pradesh): ‘Superstition is born of ignorance and fear, and thrives the most when reason is asleep,’ said Zarathushtra, founder of Zoroastrianism, but for villagers of the dominated Dhar district, it is something one turns to when confronting the erratic, like the monsoon.

Rainfall this year has been scanty throughout Dhar district, and there is a possibility that the main Kharif crop output will be affected if the dry spell continues.

Rattled by this prospect, villagers have resorted to rituals to bring rain, and if they are to be believed, these rituals have had an impact.

One such popular ritual is Bagh Rasoi, under which villagers gather to have a collective meal and perform rituals to please Indradev, the rain God. The villagers of Anarad gram panchayat performed this ritual, and it coincided with light rain, which breathed life into the crops.

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Residents of Balwari Hanuman village also took to appeasing the rain gods a week back. They performed an annual puja, a part of an age-old tribal tradition, and sang kirtan at the local temple throughout the day.  If villagers are to be believed, it rained immediately after the event, staving off an immediate wilting of the crops.

Tribal Mohanlal (70) of village Anarad said, “Whether you believe it or not, these things work. I have seen that within a day or two of performing the rituals, it rains. I have been practising these rituals for decades, and my ancestors also believed in them.”

Some other villages have taken out a funeral procession of the living, which is supposed to help soften the hearts of the gods and bring rain.

Agricultural scientist Dr Gabbu Singh Gathiya said superstition-fuelled rituals have nothing to do with rainfall. He said recent erratic rainfall has much to do with rampant deforestation that has changed weather patterns.