Religious tradition offered HIV infection in UP

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Dear Members,   

Every year during the Dasehara festival, a 'bloody ritual' is organised at a temple of goddess Durga in the Bansgaon area in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur district on Maha Navami (the ninth day of the ten-day festival).

The male devotees, including children, offer their blood to propitiate the deity so that their wishes could be fulfilled.

As per the tradition, adult male devotees are “deliberately wounded” with a shaving knife at as many as nine places on their body. The blood, which then pours out of the wounds, is offered to the goddess.Incidentally, only one shaving knife is used to inflict the wounds thereby increasing manifold the risk of HIV and other infection. But the devotees do not seem to be bothered about it. 

After offering their blood, the devotees apply “ash”, which is collected after performing “yajnas” (a ritual performed with fire amid chanting of vedic mantras), on their wounds.While adult male devotees are “wounded” at nine place in their bodies, only one cut is inflicted on child devotees, according to priests associated with the temple. 

The temple is thronged by thousands of devotees from far away places during “navaratri”. “Even newborn babies are brought here and a small wound is made on their body to offer blood to the deity,” they said.

“The wounds are healed quickly after applying the ashes of the yajna kund,”  priests said. They said earlier animals used to be sacrificed at the temple but the tradition was abandoned decades ago and instead the devotees started offering their own blood.

-- Tauhid AbbasiDRP(Trainings)Link Worker Scheme- UP