When John Keats wrote about the Nightingale: “Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird/No hungry generations tread thee down”, he didn’t mention the owl which too is spared by meat eaters because it is considered a bird of omen, whose hooting at night spells misfortune (sic). After Mahmud of Ghazni’s ruthless invasions, his wise minister thought of instilling some sense into him. He took him out for a ride in the wilderness one night and pointed to two owls sitting on a withered tree under a waning moon. “What are they doing?” asked the Sultan. The minister said one of them wants to marry off his female offspring to the male birdie of the other, who desires to know how many deserted villages the mother owl would give in dowry.”
The Sultan asked, “What’s the reply.” The minister said that as he knew the language of birds, he understood that the mother of the “bride-to-be” responded that there was no dearth of deserted villages so long as Sultan Mahmud was alive. The revelation had its effect and Mahmud decided to sheath his sword after that. Those fond of bird flesh can never think of making the owl (considered to be both wise and idiotic) part of the menu. But come Deepavali and, believe it or not, the slaughter of owls begins for Kali Puja. They are highly priced at over ₹30000 a bird. But there are people in Delhi prepared to shell out even ₹50000. The reason is that the superstitious belief that sacrificing an owl on the night of Lakshmi Puja brings untold wealth as the goddess is compelled to stay in that house till next Deepavali.
The trade is most widespread in Uttar Pradesh where owls are caught by Kalandars residing mostly in the Fatehpur Sikri area. The village of Korai-Karavili is notorious for clandestine trade in owls. Nearer Delhi, Kosi Kalan is just as infamous for it. The tribals catch owlets and breed them for the festival of lights. A fully grown bird is by then ready for sale. Each of its body parts is a money-earner. The beak, the claws, the skull, the eyes and even the meat are all used in tantric puja on Amavasya night, preceding the new moon.
Black magic
The one performing the puja is guided by a tantric well versed in black magic. He has to avoid sexual intercourse, shave all unwanted hair, bathe at 12 midnight, wrap a white dhoti around his waist, keeping the top portion of the body bare. After that he has to sit with closed eyes while the tantric recites the mantras in which the sanitary pad of a girl who has just attained puberty is burnt around the captive owl, which has been intoxicated with strong drink. The stool of a new-born infant is smeared on the bird and is covered by the petticoat of a bride worn on the wedding night. After that more rituals are performed taking care that no woman or child is around. The curse is that if a woman even peeps in out of curiosity she would become barren for life and if a child does so he or she would die an early death.
According to Ibrahim Bhai, who died some years ago and was born in Ibrahim Patti, there was a lot of mumbo-jumbo associated with the sacrifice of the owl (vahan of Lakshmi) and people greedy for instant wealth doing anything ordered by the tantric. An old resident of Fatehpur Sikri, he claimed that owls were sacrificed at Deepavali even during the decadent years of the Mughals. He mentioned Mohammad Shah Rangila and before him Muizuddin Jahandar Shah and his successor Mohammad Farrukhsiyar.Lal Kanwar, the concubine who was elevated to the exalted title of Begum Imtiaz Mahal by Jahandar Shah was the one whose menstrual cloth was used, he said. Ibrahim Bhai was no historian and semi-literate as he was, had heard fanciful tales from his elders and their ancestors made weirder by years of repetition.
If history is to be relied upon, Mohammad Shah was crowned at Fatehpur Sikri alright but spent Deepavali in the Red Fort. After his defeat by Farrukhsiyar near Agra, Jahandar Shah and Lal Kanwar escaped to Delhi where the ousted ruler met his end at the hands of the victorious nephew whose only association with Agra was the Delhi Gate he built there, 26 miles from Fatehpur Sikri.
A man called Kanje, because of his blue eyes inherited after an American soldier’s affair with his mother, a kanjar woman, during World War II, used to breed owlets the year long and sell them at Deepavali. He was warned that he would meet a bad end. Kanje, his wife and four children all died of TB within a short time. Was it the curse of the slaughtered owls?
Owls are predators and help to clean up the environment. To invest them with magical powers is mere superstition which made even Shakespeare mention that among the weird stuff brewed by the Three Witches in “Macbeth” were parts of an owl, lizard and toad too. But to tolerate the wanton massacre of owls in our times is sheer madness. As for the wealth the ritual is supposed to bring, the less said the better or Fatehpur Sikri and Kosi would be teeming with crorepatis!
