Residents of a village in India celebrated the end of Diwali in an unusual but seemingly joyful way -- a cow dung festival on 15 November.

Villagers of Gumatapura in Chamarajanagar district throw cow dung at each other and smear themselves with the animal poop during a day-long festival immediately after Diwali (also called Deepavali) that is known as Gore Habba.

It is a festival of the Kannada people (also known as Kannadigas) of southern India.

The free-for-all begins once the ‘kondigekara’ or ‘chadikora’ (one who carries tales) arrives and the temple priest offers pooja (worship) to the pile of dung.

The villagers believe that the clothes and remains of a saint were dumped in a pit in the village, and that they took the shape of a ‘linga’ (sign/symbol) surrounded by cow dung.

The dung is highly revered by the local deity Kare Eshwaraswamy, according to the villagers, who collect the dung and dump it behind the local temple, Beerappa.

Punishing liars by making them sit on a donkey is also a part of Gore Habba.

The ritual of throwing cow dung at one another at this time has existed in this village for centuries but these days is also considered a tourist event, drawing visitors from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Villagers of Gumatapura in Chamarajanagar district throw cow dung on each other and smear themselves with the dung during a day-long festival immediately after Deepavali Called ‘Gore Habba,’ It is a festival of Kannadigas in the village.

The free-for-all begins once the ‘kondigekara’ or ‘chadikora’ (one who carries tales) arrives and the temple priest offers pooja to the pile of dung. The villagers believe that the clothes and remains of a saint were dumped in a pit in the village, and took the shape of a ‘Linga’, which was surrounded by cow dung. The dung is highly revered by the local deity Kare Eshwaraswamy, according to the villagers, who collect the dung and dump it behind the temple. Punishing liars by making them sit on a donkey is also a part of Gore Habba.

The ritual of throwing cow dung at one another during Deepavali has existed in this village for centuries. It has at present, become an entertainment event, attracting people from both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The preparations for the festival start with people piling up hillocks of dung at the local Beerappa temple.