Villagers in central India's Madhya Pradesh allowed cows to trample over them as part of an age-old tradition during Diwali.

This incident happened in Bhidavad village of Ujjain district on November 13.

Visuals showed four men lying down on their bellies on the ground. They had covered their heads with cloth and other people around them regulated the movement of the cows. Seconds after they laid down, the men allowed the cows to run over these men and the bovines, a good number of them, trampled these people as they made their way out of the area. The cows ran over these men and trampled their bodies with their hooves in what seemed a pretty painful sight.

After a while, the ones conducting this ritual stopped the other cows and picked up these men. They were hailed as 'victors' of some sort with cheers and drum beats following in the background. It was learnt that this tradition is followed on the second day of Diwali every year and people lay down on the ground to have cows walk over them, which is a way of making a wish and having them fulfilled.