Indian devotees smash coconuts on people's heads during the Aadi Perukku festival in the Dindugal district, India's state of Tamil Nadu.

The celebration is organised yearly to pay tribute to nature. This painful practice is supposed to bring good health and success and symbolises the surrender to God.

Hundreds of devotees flock to this festival each year. They can decide which practices they want to follow, therefore, getting hit with coconuts is not mandatory.

People who join the practice sometimes report head injuries and need to rush to the nearest doctor to receive first aid treatment. Others refuse to get checked by a medical team as a sign of respect for the deity or for fear of provoking its anger. The temple has a dedicated staff that can apply turmeric powder or Vibhooti, sacred ash, on the sore spots.

Location: Dindugal district of Tamilnadu State in South India.


Indian devotees smash coconuts on their head in a bizarre plea to the gods for health and success.

The painful practice takes place in Tamil Nadu, a southern Indian state, where hundreds of devotees flock to take part each year.

Men, women patiently sit in lines as godmen are handed large coconuts before bringing them crashing down on the skulls of the devotees.


Of course, this ritual causes head injuries to the people. While, some of them rush to the doctor’s clinic to get first aid treatment, which could involve a few stitches, many devotees refrain from taking recourse to medical treatment either out of reverence for the deity, or due to sheer fear from incurring the deity’s wrath.


However, helpers are deployed in the temple premises to apply turmeric powder or sacred ash called vibhooti on the injury of the people.


Interestingly, it is a voluntary decision on the part of the devotees, whether or not they want to go through this ordeal.