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Turmeric saves ‘danduas’

— Photo: Lingaraj Panda

Participants of ’Danda’ doing rituals at Bijipur tank.

BERHAMPUR: Devotees call it grace of the goddess. But in reality, turmeric, a gift of mother nature, saves the ‘Danduas’ from getting infected by skin diseases.

They experience this miracle every year during their 21-day-long ‘Danda Nata’ penance in the month of ‘Chaitra’. It is also called the festival of penance.

During the period of penance, they have to take bath and perform rituals in some extremely polluted water bodies. Yet, the Danduas claim that none of them get infected by diseases.

The participants of Danda Nata have to perform ‘Dhuli Danda’ under scorching sun every day, which includes enactment of building of temples, digging ponds and agricultural works etc. After that, they have to perform rituals in the waters of a pond for hours together, which is called ‘Pani Danda’. They have to use water bodies in the city, which are extremely contaminated.

None of the tanks in the city has any perennial groundwater recharging source. As they are totally surrounded by concrete structures, they are prone to drastic pollution and contamination.

According to Uma Shankar Mishra of the Medicine Department of MKCG Medical College, contact with this water can lead to dermatitis. During summer, the density of pathogens also rises due to fall in the water level. People using these tanks usually suffer from scabies and eczema.

But the Danduas claim none of them get infected by skin diseases despite performing rituals in these waters for hours together. “Maa Danda Kali protects us from diseases during this period of penance,” said a Dandua, Sarada Prasanna Nayak.

But experts have a plausible reason for it.

The Danduas wear dhotis and cover their body with another cloth, which are always dipped in turmeric water regularly. Turmeric remains on their skin throughout the day and it proves to be the antiseptic shield for them.

Mr. Mishra also agrees that turmeric is one of the strongest antiseptic agents of nature and it can surely thwart chances of skin infection.

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