Joyful crowds have pelted each other with fistfuls of cow manure as part of one village's local ritual to mark the end of Diwali, India's most important Hindu festival.
Similar to Spain's La Tomatina festival — the eccentric tomato-hurling celebration — residents of Gumatapura instead fling snowball-sized wads of bovine poo.
The Gorehabba festival on Saturday began with the afternoon collection of "ammunition" from cow-owning homes in the village, which lies on the border of the southern states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
The manure was brought to the local temple on tractor trolleys, before a priest performed a blessing ritual.
After that, the dung was dumped in an open area — with men and boys wading in to prepare their weapons for the battle ahead.
People flock to Gumatapura from far-flung cities each year, and for those in attendance, the messy battle is as much about fun as it is about the perceived health benefits.
"If they have a disease, it will get cured," said Mahesh, a farmer at Saturday's festival.
Some Hindus believe cows and everything they produce is sacred and purifying.
Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pushed for greater protection of the animals, and many Indian states have long banned their slaughter for meat.
Members of Mr Modi's party have touted the use of cow urine to prevent and cure COVID-19 and other ailments, without any scientific basis.
His government is also looking to encourage the production of toothpaste, shampoos and mosquito repellents from bovine waste.
AFP
