Bihar villagers worship bats as God

Kalyanpur (Vaishali) (Bihar), June 26 : Though most of us may run away for life on the very first sight of any flying bat coming close to us, it is not so with residents of Kalyanpur Village in Bihar's Vaishali district who value bats as God.

For many generations, the villagers here have been worshipping these bats and profess that the bats never posed any inconvenience to their ardent devotees.

Villagers ensure nobody dares to harm these bats. And, villagers not only protect the bats but also offer food to them.

Bats are revered here as divine entities here and worshipped to seek blessing for a long life.

According to villagers, these bats have been residing on the trees in the vicinity of Kalyanpur since ages and never caused any inconvenience to the villagers.

"Our great great grand fathers and grandfathers believed that our village is out of any danger and will remain so in future as long as these bats are living here amidst us. And, even we believe in their words and ensure that no one disturbs or harms them," said Shatrugun Singh, a resident of Kalyanpur Village.

Bats reproduce during winter season and during this period these bats reportedly leave for the hilly regions of Nepal. They later on return to Kalyanpur Village with their young ones.

"These bats are residing here since long time and we want them to stay here till eternity. That is why we perform Puja for their long life," said Ram Narayan, a village priest.

This unusual relationship merits a mention at a time when man-animal conflict has reached shocking heights as witnessed elsewhere like electrocution of elephants, killing of wild felines, snakes etc. By Ajay Kumar

ANI