Devotees sit in rows while a priest smashes coconuts over their heads as part of a thanksgiving festival in southern India.

Footage filmed on August 4 in Mettu Mahadanapuram, Tamil Nadu, shows Hindu-Tamil worshippers during the annual Aadi Perukku festival undergoing the painful-looking ritual.

More than 1,000 devotees took part in the practice at the Sri Mahalakshmi Temple as part of a celebration of the live-giving properties of water.

The smashing of coconuts does cause injuries to members of the public who eschew medical treatment for fear of attracting the anger from the deity.

Instead, helpers are on hand to apply sacred ash called "viboothi" and turmeric to wounds.

The practice has drawn criticism from authorities such as the State Human Rights Commission due to the number of injuries sustained during the festival.

The annual Adiperuku festival of Sri Mahalakshmi Temple at Mettumahadanapuram will be celebrated on the 4th Aug with the chief priest breaking coconuts on heads of devotees as part of their fulfilment of vow. More than a thousand devotees will participate in this event and the priest will break coconuts on their head. A large number of women will participate in the ritual without any fear of injury. The ritual is part of a two-day annual festival that is the highlight of the temple annals.A large number of devotees from various parts of the State and from Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh will attend this festival. This temple is about 800 years old and this temple becomes a beehive of activity during the Aadi festival.The event had attracted adverse comments from agencies such as the State Human Rights Commission in the past.Devotees who suffer bleeding injuries will refrain from going for treatment due to fear of earning the “ire of the deity” and prefers to apply turmeric or viboothi (sacred ash) on the open wound.