4,000 villagers attend monkey’s funeral feast in India

Rajgar: In an unusual event, more than 4,000 people on Wednesday attended a ‘mrityu bhoj (funeral feast)’ for a monkey in a village in Madhya Pradesh’s Rajgarh district. Villagers believed the monkey to be an incarnation of the deity Hanuman, and performed all rituals typically reserved for human family members.

Twelve days ago, the monkey died after being electrocuted by a high-tension power line. On November 8, villagers decorated the monkey’s bier and organised a funeral procession accompanied by a DJ, with the entire village participating. The monkey was later cremated at Shanti Dham, following traditional Hindu rites.

After eleven days, villagers, including the village chief, Biram Singh Sondhiya, travelled to Ujjain to immerse the ashes in the Shipra River. Priests performed the rituals, and the monkey was treated symbolically as a family member, with even the shaving of the “beard” and the traditional eleventh-day ceremony being observed.

Upon returning to Darawari, villagers organised a large funeral feast on the twelfth day. They raised nearly Rs100,000 in donations for the event. The feast included puris prepared from about 500 kilograms of flour, 40 kilograms of sev, curry made from 100 litres of buttermilk, 100 kilograms of sugar, and a variety of vegetarian dishes. Invitations were sent out to neighbouring villages, and more than 4,000 people from areas within a 30–35 kilometre radius attended.

A similar incident took place in 2022, when around 1,500 residents of Dalupura village in Rajgarh district performed the last rites of another monkey. A youth named Hari Singh even shaved his head as part of the ritual mourning process. The monkey in that case was not a pet but a frequent visitor to the village. In many parts of India, monkeys are considered sacred due to their association with the deity Hanuman.

Following those rites, villagers had raised funds and organised a feast for more than 1,500 people, printing and distributing invitation cards for the occasion.