02:51Much Ado About Cutting! Oracles slash themselves with swords during annual festival in Kerala *GRAPHIC*
Hundreds of devotees flocked to a temple in Kodungaloor, Kerala on Friday for a unique ceremony which sees so-called oracles slashing their own foreheads with swords.
The festival named Kodungalloor Bharani (Festival of Oracles) takes place annually at the Sree Kurumba Bhagavathy Temple and is a celebration of the birth of the Hindu goddess Bhadrakali.
Participants wear brightly coloured traditional clothing and heavy metal anklets as they perform frenzied dances while carrying curved swords and offering prayers to the deity.
Oracles, both men and women, strike their heads with swords and draw blood as a symbol of their intense devotion to Bhadrakali.
According to Hindu culture, Bhadrakali was born from the third eye of Lord Shiva and destroyed the demon Darika after a fierce battle.
The festival is hugely significant in northern Kerala and is considered the largest congregation of oracles in the world.
02:51Hundreds of devotees flocked to a temple in Kodungaloor, Kerala on Friday for a unique ceremony which sees so-called oracles slashing their own foreheads with swords.
The festival named Kodungalloor Bharani (Festival of Oracles) takes place annually at the Sree Kurumba Bhagavathy Temple and is a celebration of the birth of the Hindu goddess Bhadrakali.
Participants wear brightly coloured traditional clothing and heavy metal anklets as they perform frenzied dances while carrying curved swords and offering prayers to the deity.
Oracles, both men and women, strike their heads with swords and draw blood as a symbol of their intense devotion to Bhadrakali.
According to Hindu culture, Bhadrakali was born from the third eye of Lord Shiva and destroyed the demon Darika after a fierce battle.
The festival is hugely significant in northern Kerala and is considered the largest congregation of oracles in the world.