Follow RT on Residents of a small village in southern India were put in isolation after a mass gathering last weekend, during which a horse dedicated to a local deity was solemnly cremated.
The incident happened in Maradimath, a hamlet of about 400 houses in the Karnataka state. Locals flouted social distancing rules, which the state government last week extended till June, to give the sacred animal a send-off.
The horse was attached to a local temple. Earlier in the week, believers released it to graze freely in the village with a prayer to Shri Kadasiddeshwar to rid the world of Covid-19. On Friday night, the horse unexpectedly died, and the next day villagers held an elaborate cremation ceremony, conducted by the temple seer, Sri Pavadeshwar Swami.