Nepalese villagers cheered up by cursing festival
Last updated 04/03/2010 18:20:21
Nepalese villagers cheered up by cursing festival
It might not sound like the most friendly of festivals, but residents in two Nepalese villages say an annual ten-day cursing festival cheers them all up.
Villagers in neighbouring Parsawa and Laxmipur have just celebrated the end of the festival, which they view positively. Believe it or not, participants reportedly insult one another around penis-shaped arrangements of straw in parks and other communal areas.
The local insults are laughable rather than inflammatory, including such choice put downs as: "Monkey face, I hope your sons are as ugly as frogs" and – get this - "I hope your buffaloes die of diarrhoea." Ouch!
One elderly resident explained: "The best thing about this tradition is after the festival is over, everyone feels good about each other. There are no bad feelings." A teenage participant added "We don't get to curse at any other time. But during the festival we're allowed to - even in front of our parents and we all have a jolly good time. Everyone gets cheered up."
More worryingly perhaps, the straw phalluses are apparently set alight on the final day of the event and villagers celebrate the Hindu holiday of Holi, the Festival of Colturs.
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