On Nagara Panchami, devotees handle live scorpions in this village
Devotees gathered at Kandakur village for the annual Nagara Panchami tradition of handling live scorpions, believing they are protected by Goddess Kondammai. While the ritual is long-standing, health authorities have set up first-aid camps due to occasional stings.
Why it matters
The event highlights the intersection of traditional cultural practices and modern public health safety measures in rural India.
Hundreds of devotees from Yadgir district and neighbouring parts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh gathered at Kandakur village in Gurumitkal taluk on Monday to participate in an unusual Nagara Panchami tradition — worshipping and handling live scorpions.
The annual “scorpion fair”, held at the hillock where the Kondammai Temple is located, has been observed for nearly six decades. Unlike the customary practice of offering milk to snake idols during Nagara Panchami, devotees at Kandakur worship a stone idol of Goddess Kondammai that resembles a scorpion.
On Monday, after offering milk and prayers at the shrine, devotees, including women, children and the elderly, searched for scorpions beneath rocks on the hillock. Those who found them placed the creatures on their hands, shoulders and faces as part of the traditional ritual.
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