Birappa

Birappa is the demon god of the Kurubaru or shepherd caste in Mysore. During the annual festival of Birappa, it is the custom for the priest to sit on his hands and knees before the idol, with his eyes shut, holding out his shaven head, his body being naked except a cloth round the waist.

On the festival day of Birappa, four men stand near the priest to whom the elders hand the coconuts which the people have brought. These coconuts are then broken on the bare head of the priest who sits without uttering a sound until great heaps of coconut fragments are piled upon both sides of him.

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