Fwd: Thousands attend monkey's funeral in southern India

September 2, 2002

This is a cross-post from our Tantrism Forum. May interest those with a

passion/affinity with moneys and Shri Hanuman:

l08aum wrote:

Namaste MembersThis is from the

monkey's funeral in southern IndiaSeptember 2 2002Thousands of people attended

the funeral of a monkey revered as a divine incarnation of a Hindu god in the

southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, police said yesterday.But animal

rights activists said the animal, which collapsed on Saturday, died of

starvation and exhaustion after it was trapped inside a temple for a month by

over-zealous worshippers.According to local police officials, 3,000 to 4,000

people were present when the monkey was cremated according to Hindu custom,

during a ceremony organised by the temple committee.The animal had strayed into

a temple dedicated to Hanuman - the Hindu monkey god - in Timmaganipalli

village, some 400 kilometres south of the Andhra Pradesh capital Hyderabad.When

the villagers discovered the monkey sitting on the idol of Hanuman they thought

it was a reincarnation of the god and refused to let it out of the

temple.Hundreds of pilgrims poured in to seek blessings, often garlanding the

monkey with flowers, besides making offerings of money and coconuts."We tried

to regulate the traffic of pilgrims to ensure proper rest to the monkey but it

had created quite a sensation that at least 300 to 400 people would come

everyday to see it," N Kalidas, deputy superintendent of police told AFP.Even

when the monkey stopped eating, animal rights groups were not allowed to take

it away."The monkey was quite old and both its hind legs were paralysed,"

Narendra Reddy secretary of animal rights group Karuna told AFP."It clearly

needed help and we wanted to have it shifted to a veterinary hospital but the

villagers just refused to co-operate with us," he said.A team of vets examined

the monkey after the courts intervened last week.Karuna had petitioned the

Andhra Pradesh high court to rescue the monkey, which they claimed was being

exploited by the priests of the temple to make money.The court passed a

directive on Wednesday ordering the local police and administration to ensure

the monkey was not harassed by pilgrims and given proper medical attention, but

it died a few days later.AFP

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