Karnataka villagers dig graves, pump water into thirsty corpses’ mouths to bring rain

Mangalore Today News Network / News18

Vijayapura, July 13, 2022: Praying for rain and holding rituals to appease the “rain gods" is an age-old practice in many parts of the world. In rural India, marrying animals like donkeys and frogs, crows, is a common practice. Some people make special offerings to deities in hopes of being blessed with abundant rains. But the people of Kalakeri village in Karnataka’s Vijayapura district are in a league of their own. To bring rains, they dug open graves and pumped water into the corpses’ mouths.

 

Almost all of Karnataka was receiving abundant rains. Some areas were even affected by landslides and floods due to excessive rain. For some reason, Kalakeri village didn’t get a drop of rain, leaving the farmers of the area extremely worried. The entire village gathered and discussed this “curse" upon them. Someone from the group suggested that they should pour water into corpses’ mouths and everyone agreed.

The villagers made a list of people who died within the last month and went to the graveyard. Since the family members of the deceased knew where exactly they were buried, and in what position they were buried in, it was easy to find the graves. Then, a hole around two feet deep was dug to the side where the head of the corpses were laid and a water pipe was inserted. Water from a tanker was then released into the grave.

This was done to over 25 graves and afterwards, the village stood eagerly waiting. Soon after the last corpse was watered, co-incidentally it started drizzling, taking people’s trust in their ritual a notch higher.

Kalakeri is a small village with a population of 1500. People mainly grow tur dal there and deficit in rain has always affected the people very badly. Villagers of Kalakeri believe there’s a reason behind this bizarre tradition: Several years ago, an old man died in the village with his mouth wide open. He was buried without anyone closing his mouth. That year, a severe drought and famine struck the village and people suffered. When the elders of the village contacted an astrologer, he said it was the “thirsty" corpse that was the reason for the loss of rain in the village.

As per the astrologer’s instructions, the villagers then dug a hole into his grave and pumped water into it. Astonishingly, it started raining thereafter.

Since then, whenever there is scarcity of rain, villagers of Kalakeri follow this ritual and believe their cries are answered by the dead souls.