A tiny village in south India performed a strange ritual in which men of all ages had a messy fight in an enormous pile of cow dung to cure illnesses and bring prosperity to all.

The festival took place on October 30, on the day of "Gore Habba" just after Diwali, in the village of Talavadi, Erode district, Tamil Nadu.

The festival is also held at the nearby village of Talavadi and dates back several generations, with people collecting the dung into a pit in the centre of each village, while children gather religious offerings.

After a procession where all the villagers, as well as thousands of onlookers from the surrounding area, gather around the pit and many strip down and wade into the dung to splat it onto each other.

Eventually after getting thoroughly covered, all the participants wash off in a local lake.

The dung is believed to function as a panacea for injuries, while the festival itself is seen as a important event to promote harmony in the local community.

In a tiny village in India's southern state of Tamil Nadu continue to have faith in the age-old belief that cow dung is a panacea for many diseases and hence splashing on cow dung once a year keeps them free of health problems. Villagers gather on the day of Gore Habba a day after Diwali to collectively engage in the annual ritual.

The Kannada-speaking population of the southern state of Tamil Nadu celebrates "Gore Habba," a festival that is marked by slinging of cow-dung on each other in what is considered a cleansing and healing ritual. The festival is exclusive to the Gumatapura and Talavadi villages in the Erode district of Tamil Nadu.

The tradition began several generations ago. Starting early morning, men, women, and children begin to collect cow dung from all over the village and dump it in a place designated for the ritual. Later, half-naked children go all around the village collecting oil and butter for offering prayers at the temple. Afterward, a procession is carried out.

The real fun begins after the prayer congregation when people start picking up the cow dung and splash it on to each other. Every single person in the village is pushed into the pit and smeared with cow dung. Thousands of people from the nearby villages also gather to watch the game. The ritual ends with a dip in the nearby lake. Locals describe the festival as a tool to remind the villagers of harmonious co-existence in society.