India has always been a diverse country. The same diversity also flows in all aspects of life including healing. While the country has some of the world class healing infrastructure in its major cities and is also becoming a significant medical tourism destination, the paradox of Indian reality is palpable in the fact that even today thousands flock to exorcise their ghosts or get rid of evil spirits at the tombs of revered saints.
A devotee, believed to be possessed by evil spirits, cries in a state of trance as she walks around the courtyard of Guru Deoji Maharaj temple during a ghost fair at Malajpur village in Betul district in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh January 26, 2013. People from across India come to this fair to be exorcised of ëevil spiritsí. They are usually brought by relatives and they are most often women. The exorcism involves running around the temple courtyard to make the ‘ghost’ weak then being beaten by a priest with a broom.
The phenomenon can be discovered at Malajpur in Madhya Pradesh, (located some 300 kilometers from the state capital of Bhopal) where thousands gather to get rid of evil spirits every year (since almost 300 years) from the day of full moon in the month of ‘Paush’ of ‘Vikrami’ calendar to ‘Vasant Panchami’ (The festival of spring). The clientele comes from all over central India and is not limited to poor people alone as many well heeled seekers can also be found among the multitudes that throng the temple.
A man pulls devotees who are believed to be possessed by evil spirits by the hair while confronting them as they go into a state of trance at Guru Deoji Maharaj temple during a ghost fair at Malajpur village in Betul district in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
The temple here is devoted to ‘Deoji Sant’, a holyman believed to have effected miracles around 300 years back by restoring eyesight to blind, turning sand into sugar, and bringing crops to bloom during famine and drought. The fair is simple and cured people make simple offerings of ‘jaggery’ (raw sugar) at the temple. The possessed are usually females, many of them visibly hysterical.
A devotee who is believed to be possessed by evil spirits lies in a state of trance on a sacred platform at Guru Deoji Maharaj temple during a ghost fair at Malajpur village.
Many believe that the people brought here have problems that could be solved by appropriate psychiatric treatment which is not readily available to vast multitudes of Indians living in the countryside. Nevertheless the continued popularity of the temple and the fair is testimony to the fact that many believe that cures are effected, and usually in matters of the faith that is what is important.
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