Nilgiris district in Tamil Nadu is well known for its agriculture and tourism. It is also a home for a large number of tribals. Apart from the tribal people, other communities also live and harvest their crops for a living. Therefore, Nilgiris have different customs and strange worship practices due to the diverse population in this hilly area. One such is the Dheenatty Nadavarai village situated in Kakuchi Panchayat which follows a strange custom of not eating the non-veg food.
People in this village are engaged in agriculture. They have been worshipping Lord Shiva for generations and once a year they celebrate the festival of Shivaratri. It is said that even today no meat is allowed in the village. Villagers say that they have been following this custom since the time of their ancestors. They claimed that they don’t even eat eggs.
When asked if they face any nutritional deficiency due to the absence of a non-vegetarian diet they said that there is no malnutrition in their village. They also say that they are teaching and following the lifestyle of their ancestors to the future generations.
While talking to Local18, Prakash, a bus operator from Dheenatty Nadavarai village, said, “Even till now, we have been eating natural food. In the past ten years, the impact of chemicals has increased, so there is a situation where chemical products have to be consumed. So far we have been consuming only vegetarian food. We are doing agricultural work by consuming vegetarian food. We are all healthy.”
Apart from him, a young man named Mano from Dheenatty Nadavarai village claimed, “We are still consuming vegetarian food. As far as I know, this custom has been going on since 7, 8 generations ago. We worship the Shivalinga and wear Rudraksha nuts around our necks.” The people of this village supposedly eat vegetarian food even when staying in other districts and states like Bengaluru and Chennai.
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