Villagers of all ages in south India literally wallowed in cow dung on 30 October as part of a unique festival in a mix of unbridled enthusiasm and piety.<br /><br />Cow dung from thousands of cattle in Thalavadi, Tamil Nadu and other surrounding villages, was piled up in heaps for people to grab handfuls and splat on one other. <br /><br />The villagers who described the festival as ‘Goraihabba’ say the absence of rainfall coinciding with the event celebration on the third day after Deepawalli, a Hindu religious festival. <br /><br />The villagers prayed to their deity all through their celebration, smearing one another with cow dung to rid their village of all ailments and hardships.<br /><br />The celebration began with a group of villagers having a bath together at the village tank and going in a procession to the temple to the accompaniment of drum beats.
