Devotee Chops Off Tongue, Offers It To Temple Deity!

Lucknow: Faith and religion can, at times, lead to self-inflicted mishaps.

Like what happened at a temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Kaushambi district recently.

A devotee actually chopped off his tongue and offered it to the presiding deity at Maa Sheetla temple, police said on Saturday.

The man, identified as 38-year-old Sampat from Kaushambi, was rushed to the district hospital. His condition is serious.

Sampat and his wife Banno Devi took a dip in Ganges and went to the temple to perform their ritual. Moments after their ‘parikrama’ – walking barefoot to take a full circle of the temple — Sampat cut his tongue with a blade and presented it at the temple’s door, informed Abhilash Tiwari, station house officer of Karha Dhaam police station.

His wife told police that Sampat wanted to visit the temple, but didn’t tell her about his wish to offer his tongue to the deity.

The incident caused a stir at the temple premises, but this is not the first time a devotee has offered his tongue to the deity.

Last year, a woman had chopped off the tip of her tongue to fulfil her vow to sacrifice ‘if MK Stalin became chief minister’. She was taken to hospital in an unconscious state — and bleeding — from a temple in Tamil Nadu.

There was an incident in Odisha two years ago, where a priest chopped off a man’s head inside a temple in Cuttack.