There is a temple at Pab area near Amritsar in Punjab where devotees seek blessings for their children by dressing them up like a monkey. This fancy dress festival is observed for 10 days at the Hanuman temple. This festival is popularly known as ‘Langur Mela’.
Parents dress up their children like monkeys and bring them to the temple. This unique tradition is being practiced by the people since 700 years.
This is particular to India where Monkeys and primates are revered and are treated close to the deities. Nowhere in the world are the monkeys safer than in India. Langurs in Jodhpur, India, find so much to eat there is a baby boom. The population of Langurs is the highest in India and the detailed account of this can be found in the BCC documentary series called Planet Earth.
Be it the ‘Langur Mela’ or the Hanuman temple, the primates are having the best time through their existence as close to the humans as possible.
As David Attenborough the narrator of the Planet Earth series says, “It is not easy finding sex in the city. It is easy enough to find wildlife there, however.”
PNN