Varanasi holds rites for dead monkey with a feast for primates

The All India Brahmin Association here held a ceremonial feast for primates to mark the 13th day ritual for a dead monkey.

Varanasi (UP), Sept 9 : The All India Brahmin Association here held a ceremonial feast for primates to mark the 13th day ritual for a dead monkey.

Earlier, the association undertook a burial ceremony for the monkey, who died of an electric shock after getting entangled in the overhead power supply cables. Some volunteers even had their heads tonsured as per Hindu rites on the 10th day of his death.

The feast consisted of 50 kilograms of apples, 100 dozens of bananas and 20 kilograms each of guava and cucumber.

The venue for the grand meal was the centuries-old Sankat Mochan temple, where a bomb went off in March 2006 killing 15 devotees, who had gathered for evening prayers at the temple dedicated to Lord Hanuman.

Incidentally, after the blast, monkeys faced scarcity of food in the temple premises, compelling them to throng to neighbouring residential areas, causing nuisance.

"Monkeys are not very different from humans; they are our ancestors. Now, the monkeys will not terrorise people in various localities as their demand for food will be fulfilled," said Sanjay Pandey, an organiser.

ANI