Posted on 11/10/2009 6:40:55 AM PST by Willie Green
BHUBANESWAR, India (Reuters) - Hundreds of poor Hindu villagers in eastern India have refused to hand over a rare turtle to authorities, saying it is an incarnation of God, officials said on Tuesday.
Villagers chanting hymns and carrying garlands, bowls of rice and fruits are pouring in from remote villages to a temple in Kendrapara, a coastal district in eastern Orissa state.
Policemen have struggled to control the gathering and have failed to persuade the villagers to give up the sea turtle.
"We have asked the villagers to hand it over as it is illegal to confine a turtle, but they are refusing," said P.K. Behera, a senior government wildlife official.
The turtle is protected in India and anyone found keeping one without permission can be jailed for a year or more and fined.
But adamant villagers have refused to give up the reptile, saying the turtle bears holy symbols on its back and is an incarnation of Lord Jagannath, a popular Hindu deity.
"Lord Jagannath has visited our village in the form of a turtle. We will not allow anybody to take the turtle away," said Ramesh Mishra, a priest of the temple.
(Excerpt) Read more at af.reuters.com ...
Nothing like a little turtle worship now and then. Certainly better than Jihad.
India, between heaven and shell
I don’t care who ya are, that’s funny right there...
Poor ignorant people.
This is in direct conflict with the 1st Commandment, wherein-
“I am the Lord thy God — thou shell have no other gods before Me...”
Jagannath is the one on the right.
It’s not clear that the turtle god is “before” the True God.
Pity these ignorant misguided people.
Pity us. We have a “post turtle” as POTUS.
Ignorance is bliss for many on Earth.
“Pity these ignorant misguided people.”
No matter what religion you hold, if you hold one, those believing in a different religion are, “ignorant misguided people,” and of course they feel the same way about you.
Interesting that even in India, environmentalism trumps freedom of worship.
Hank
There’s something to be said for a deity you can make a tasty soup out of.
Who runs the “Sea Turtle Worship” ping list?
***Who runs the “Sea Turtle Worship” ping list?***
ROTFLMAO!!
(I think it was moved to recipes - under Godly Gumbo)
Or a stew, like beef stew (of course that is your uncle, not a god)
Matsya, the fish
Kurma, the tortoise
Varaha, the boar
I reckon India has the market almostcornered on tasty deities.
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