Andhra Pradesh - Nalgonda   

Villagers emulate Pandavas

S. Ramu

NALGONDA: Of late, the practice of villagers going into forests and spending a day there whenever they face hardship has become routine in Nalgonda district. Taking a leaf from puranas in which the Pandavas, after losing bet in gambling, went into forests and live there for 12 years (Vanavasam), villagers of Cherlapally, believing that a spirit has been haunting them, went into forests on Sunday.

Worried over the increasing number of cases of high fever, village elders called for a meeting five days ago and decided to go for `vanavasam' for a day. They tom-tomed it in the village and the villagers, irrespective of caste and creed, vacated their village.

People left their homes with stoves and utensils and spent the day under trees on the outskirts. "Strictly sticking to the tradition, we did not take even a match box for `vanavasam.' We collected fire from a temple by paying one rupee each,'' Lakshmama (name changed) told The Hindu on Monday. "I borrowed Rs. 100 to buy meat and to meet other expenses,'' she said.

"Ever since a villager, Chary, died in our village on the day of Krishnashtami, the cases of fever are on the rise. To exorcise the spirit, we went for `vanavasam' and returned home at 3.30 p.m.'' a villager said.

In a similar case, villagers of S. Lingotam in Choutuppal mandal on August 31 exhumed the body of a weaver, whose waist string (`molathadu') and sacred thread (`jandhyam') were not removed before burying him three months ago. The villagers attributed the continuous dry spell in the village to the burial of the body with the two threads.

``The `vanavasam' cases are on the rise in Nalgonda district. Owing to lack of scientific temper, the gullible public are being taken for a ride by village elders,'' says K. Venkateswarlu, lecturer in journalism of NG College.

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