Commotion over cobra cremation

PARADIP: Bizarre it may sound, vehicular traffic on Cuttack-Paradip State Highway was paralysed for an hour as locals sought donations to perform last rites of a dead cobra at Pippal Chowk within Paradip Lock police limits here on Monday.

As per reports, a group of youths beat a cobra to death in Pippal village on Sunday night. As villagers came to know about the incident, they decided to perform last rites of the snake to avoid misfortune.
Sources said the villagers believed that killing a snake was inauspicious and would bring bad luck as it was associated with Lord Vishnu and Shiva.

On Monday morning, residents of Pippal performed kirtan by beating drums for four hours in the village before placing the dead snake on the highway demanding donations from passersby and commuters. As a result, hundreds of vehicles were stranded on the road as the villagers went on collecting donations forcibly from people to cremate the cobra.

The superstitious locals also stopped Jagatsinghpur MP Kulamani Samal, who was on his way to attend a function at a school in Paradip, at Pippal Chowk and sought financial assistance from his MPLAD fund to construct a temple in memory of the cobra in the village. The MP assured the villagers of monetary support and even attended the cremation ceremony of the snake before leaving for his destination.
Paradip Lock IIC  Chirmaya Rout said on being informed, police rushed to the spot and stopped the villagers from illegally collecting donations from passersby. The cremation ceremony of the dead cobra was performed peacefully, he added. On the other hand, Kujang Forest Ranger Pratap Mohanty said a team has been sent to the village to conduct an inquiry and ascertain the cause of death of the cobra.