MP village holds elaborate funeral rites for monkey, drawing thousands

More than 4,000 villagers gathered in Madhya Pradesh’s Rajgarh district on Wednesday for a mrityu bhoj (funeral feast) held in honour of a monkey that locals believed to be an incarnation of Lord Hanuman. The animal had died 12 days earlier after being electrocuted by a high-tension power line.

Residents of Darawari village performed every ritual typically reserved for a human family member. On 8 November, the monkey’s bier was decorated and taken out in a funeral procession accompanied by music, before being cremated at Shanti Dham with full Hindu rites.

Eleven days later, the village Patel, Biram Singh Sondhiya, and other residents travelled to Ujjain to immerse the ashes in the Shipra River. Priests conducted the ceremonies, and symbolic rituals such as the shaving of the “beard” and the traditional eleventh-day rites were observed in keeping with human funerary customs.

Upon their return, villagers organised a large mrityu bhoj on the twelfth day. Nearly Rs 1 lakh was raised through community donations to host the feast. Preparations included puris made from around five quintals of flour, 40 kg of sev, curries using 100 litres of buttermilk, one quintal of sugar and a range of other vegetarian dishes. Invitations were extended to neighbouring villages, drawing attendees from within a 30–35 km radius.

This is not the first time Rajgarh district has witnessed such an event. In 2022, residents of Dalupura village performed last rites for another monkey, with more than 1,500 people attending and even a villager shaving his head in mourning. Monkeys are widely regarded as sacred in many parts of India due to their association with Lord Hanuman, and often receive reverential treatment in rural communities.

With IANS Inputs