Inside India's Poop-Throwing Festival! 🇮🇳💩

So much shit.

That's me at a poop throwing festival in India where the villagers spend six months collecting cow poop and celebrate the end of Diwali by throwing it at each other and rubbing it on their skin.

I'm sinking.

I'm sinking.

I'm gonna die today.

I'm touching.

I am.

I'm the one who shits.

And this is the story of how after immersing myself into this unusual tradition, I was doxxed, harassed, and threatened by tens of thousands of Indians who weren't happy with me filming this village's holiest tradition.

It all started when I flew over 10,000 miles to South India, linked up with my translator Vivek and began our trek into the remote village of Gumatapura.

Did this village still celebrate this strange tradition or is it merely a legend of the past?

After a couple hour drive and immediately upon arrival, we were met with unmatched hospitality.

Okay, we made it to Buma Tanapa.

Oh, thank you very much.

My friend, my friend, you're too nice to me.

President.

Okay.

Every home has some cattle.

Can we see?

Yeah, and they have collected the dung of it.

And this local was kind enough to bring me inside his home and show me something very important he'd been stockpiling.

Oh, right here.

Okay, it doesn't smell that bad at all.

And how long did it take to collect all this poop?

More than five or six months.

Five or six months, all of this, six months worth of poop.

So halfway into the year, you need to begin the collection.

This is small.

So a little bit right here.

I see, fresh right there.

Can I smell?

You smell it for bad, but our... That's pretty intense, yeah.

Scientific test for, it's not for you just eating for little bit, little bit daily.

Eat it?

Eat a little bit?

Little bit, little bit eating.

Scientific test for, it's not coming for cancer.

Okay, so scientifically proven that if you eat a little bit, it cures cancer.

How much do you eat daily?

Can you show me?

Like, just a small... You don't have to do it, I just want to see how much.

Just a small amount.

Small.

Anything...

You can eat it.

How does it taste?

That taste.

But we are playing with our bodies.

Any other stitching or anything, it's not good.

Okay.

So scientifically... You can take and check it in your lab.

Yeah.

That's it good.

Because of our daily, we can take it with it.

The smell is good.

Yeah.

Any other stitching or anything, it's not good.

Okay, so this helps the immune system.

And do the kids eat it as well?

No, no, no.

No, just the men?

We don't.

We have daily eating.

Okay, you don't do that.

But scientifically, it's good.

Okay, scientifically, it's good for you.

Any cancer or anything, it's good.

Decreases risk of cancer.

Okay, much less.

Understood.

This is a very rare and exclusive event.

Only celebrated here?

Only celebrated in this village in whole of India.

Can you explain where we're at?

Because India is a very large nation.

1.45 billion people.

We are in the southwestern part of India.

In the state of Karnataka.

A small village called Gomitapura.

Extremely welcoming people.

We came here, no announcement.

They welcome us like we're family.

So I gotta say, thank you very much.

These cows tomorrow will be an essential part of the celebration.

Holy, God-like figures, right?

Why are they in a hurry?

They have lots of work to do.

Yeah, they have lots of work to do.

Happy Diwali.

I'm here for Gorehaba.

Yes.

I came from Texas to see Gorehaba.

Gorehaba, yes.

Why did they start doing it?

They actually found in this place, there was a lot of cow dung here.

And one day, suddenly, they found an idol of a lord here.

In the poop?

In the cow dung.

So the Bhireshwara is the name of the temple.

And it is believed whosoever will play that festival, any problem, skin disease, they will be getting cured.

Amazing.

They believe their God also originated from the cow dung.

So the cow dung is like a blessing.

That is why they believe.

Using that cow dung, it heals, gives them prosperity and blessings.

They believe if you participate in the festival, if you have any wish, and if you're not granting a child, so the Lord will fulfill your wishes.

And is it just for a good time too?

Well, good time is part of every festival.

Let's go.

All right, now the village leader is gonna show me the biggest pile of dung in the village.

After the locals confirmed I could participate in the festival tomorrow, I wanted to see the sheer scope of how much cow poop was collected for the festival.

I began to see piles upon piles of cow poop everywhere in the village.

Cow dung.

Oh my God.

Good God.

Look at that pile, it's huge, it's huge.

Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow.

Wow, that is a large stockpile of cow dung.

I'm getting giddy just thinking about it.

I'm getting a little bit too excited, if you know what I mean.

Tomorrow we will throw it at each other.

It'll cure sicknesses, perform miracles, fulfill dreams, anything and everything.

This is miraculous.

Our other guy said he has his own stockpile.

Everyone has their own stockpile.

How long did it take?

Four months.

Four months.

Five months.

Five months.

Five months.

15,000.

15, that's it?

The pile's going to be huge tomorrow.

Tomorrow, I suspect it's going to be 20 feet in the air.

It's huge.

Happy Diwali.

Truly, everyone is smiling.

And the village leader is taking me somewhere.

He has a vision.

And you might be wondering, after the villagers cover their bodies in cow poop, how exactly do they clean themselves afterwards?

Behind me is the lake where they're going to bathe themselves in after the event.

It looks...

Maybe not like the cleanest place to take a bath afterwards?

After they'll go home and they'll take a clean bath also from their own water.

But first it's a ritual.

This is going to be amazing.

You've never celebrated Gaurava before.

No, this is because this is the only place in whole of India where they celebrate it.

So disclaimer, not all of India celebrates this event.

Of course, yes.

And we need to let that be known.

Sure.

But this village does.

This village does.

Because this village is named Gomatipura, which is village of cows, village for cows.

But it's important to acknowledge that cow dung is considered holy in Hinduism and believed to have purifying and sanctifying properties.

Many people smear it inside their homes to purify the space, and it's believed that the goddess Lakshmi herself resides within it.

Do you want to say anything about Gaurava?

Yeah, bro, this is like a festival we are celebrating around 300 years back.

Like, our god...

The Vireshwara Swami is born from this cow dung, so we are celebrating this.

Okay, are you nervous?

No.

You're excited?

Yeah, I'm excited.

This is not first time for me.

I'm playing for 16 years.

Okay.

And have you witnessed any healing miracles?

Have you seen anyone be healed?

Yeah.

Yeah.

One, two, three.

Happy Gaurava!

He's showing me the largest pile in the village right now.

It's very nice, man.

The whole village is very friendly.

Hello.

Happy Diwali.

Thank you, my friend.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Everyone here is extremely nice.

I would recommend to come down here.

The nicest village I've been to, maybe.

Insane.

The world is huge and wildly different from one another.

In this culturally homogenized, globalized planet we live in, it's easy to think that we're all the same.

But truly, there are some fascinating cultural differences, some ancient traditions like this that are breathtaking.

Truly, everyone is smiling.

Oh, oh, there it is.

There's even more.

It keeps coming.

More cow dung right here for Goraba.

Are you excited for Goraba?

Look at all this.

The sheer quantity of cow dung.

And there's even more.

Truly huge.

This is a massive pile.

Everyone has their own stockpile.

Okay, we have cow.

We have this man who's just leading me somewhere.

Even more cow dung.

It just keeps coming.

Simon, how will they move all the poop?

Tractor.

We use tractors to move all of this poop to the city center.

Unbelievable.

Unbelievable.

The logistics to move all this cow poop.

They've taken several months to collect it all.

Look at all this.

Look at all this.

My God.

That is cow shit right behind me.

That is cow shit.

Slippery?

Okay.

And my shoe right now is covered in cow shit.

Cow poop explosion.

Cow poop bomb.

The innovations here are breathtaking.

Okay, that will be used tomorrow to transport the cow dung to the massive city center pile.

Fireworks you keep hearing are celebrating Diwali.

We have even more, even more cow poop.

It just keeps coming.

Wow.

Can I smell it?

You thought that pile over there was big?

You haven't seen a fraction of what you'll see tomorrow.

After seeing the sheer scale of poop gathered for the festival, the next day, it was time to celebrate.

I might need to throw on a hazmat very quickly.

I'm out.

We have traveling villagers here to celebrate.

There is complete chaos happening right now.

Just look.

All sorts of people coming in right now.

What is this right here?

Is this cow dung?

No, this is just a fire.

It smells very good.

Yeah.

Hello.

But before our poop throwing war could begin, there were several other traditions involving the use of cow poop leading up to it.

Very beautiful.

Happy Diwali.

Wow, wow, wow.

And holy shit.

And as the festivities began, the villagers were scrounging up any remaining cow poop they could spare in time for our legendary poop-throwing war.

So piece by piece he's adding to the pile.

Before you know it, it'll be a large pile.

They'll get a tractor, put it in the tractor, and then the villagers are collecting piece by piece, poop by poop, more poop over there, really poop everywhere.

Every piece of poop counts.

Don't forget it.

That right there is freshly shot.

This will be extremely valuable ammunition in the poop war, and I'm excited to see it fly.

I've really waited about 12 months for this day.

I bought the flights 10 months ago.

We're just gonna have a good time.

We're just gonna have a good time.

Keep in mind, women cannot throw the poop.

They cannot participate.

Probably a great moment where the lack of female rights in this instance benefit them and their cleanliness.

Okay, all and all along the streets, there is poop.

This is a shit show of magnitudes never before seen, a fecal fiasco of a scale never precedented.

These cows are used as artillery machines.

Imagine the factories in World War II.

OK, this cow's getting a little ballsy on me, scaring me a little bit.

The young men, I think, are excited.

Ah, piece by piece, continues to be produced.

I mean, the production rate out here is astonishing.

Oh, she has more dung.

And keep in mind, she will not be throwing the poop, but it'll be essential.

We're witnessing the poop supply chain, if you will.

And we have all of these devices to collect all the poop.

I'm getting a little bit nervous now.

The more cows I see, the more poop I smell.

I'm like, how big can this event be?

I think it's gonna be bigger than I ever imagined.

And as the tractors came in, preparing to haul the poop ammunition into the town center, you might be wondering if everyone here is excited to cover themselves in cow poop, and if they believe it actually has healing properties.

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Thanks, Straight Arrow News.

Back to the poop festival.

Can we ask them what this tradition means to them?

The significance is just to dedicate it to the God.

Okay.

Why do they throw the poop at each other?

the lord who appeared from this cow dung one of the elders of the village he came in the dream and told him you celebrate this every year I'll keep this village and you people blessed and happy and they believe that after doing that it helps your skin

And has he seen that in the past?

Has he seen people and their skin be healed?

In the whole village, because they play the festival every year, so nobody gets any skin disease, any skin problems.

I see.

And does it work?

It's working already because nobody gets any skin disease.

Does anyone get sick from the poop when it gets in their eyes or their mouth or their nose?

No, no, no.

Does the village eat any of the cow poop for cancer prevention?

No, no, no, no.

Just the guy I met?

Okay, okay, nobody, nobody.

Just one person is an exception.

Just one person, okay, okay.

I met the only guy who eats cow poop, apparently.

And no one in the surrounding area, in the villages, no one has a skin disease.

I see, very nice.

Smooth skin.

Why can't the women play with the poop?

can go in the temple, they do worshipping, they do everything else.

But the poop.

But because of the dream appeared to one of the men, he said, you men come and celebrate, the Lord said.

You will be throwing the poop?

Yes.

And how many years have you celebrated Gaurabha?

Since 15 years.

Does it clear your skin?

What does the cow poop do to your body?

Just for fun.

I see.

He said, does it heal you?

He said, we just throw it at each other, bro.

Ask a Muslim his opinion on Ghoraba.

You will participate?

Okay, Muslims participate.

As I told you, it's a cultural thing rather than a religious.

Cultural rather than religious.

Can you ask them if they've witnessed any healing miracles throughout this festival?

The celebration itself is a miracle, they say, because they don't get any skin disease.

That means they're already getting blessings from God.

Amazing.

Will it work in any other village or just this village?

Because the prophecy, the dream happened here.

Only this, because the belief is for this village only.

Well, thank you so much.

Other villages can come and be part of it, but they're not allowed to celebrate it.

It's unfortunate.

Yeah.

Because this seems like a big skincare industry would collapse overnight if we had this festival everywhere.

So while the women do not participate, she has some of the dirty work to be done here in actually collecting these piles of poop.

Hi.

Happy Diwali.

Can you ask her if she wants to celebrate?

Does she have any desire to be in the poop?

She said no.

Good to meet you.

Can I see his poop?

Is that okay?

Is it okay if I see your poop?

Okay, let's go.

So take a look at this.

All sorts of poop, barefoot, walking through here.

Wow.

Okay, now I smell something for sure.

Wow.

Very good, very good.

And has he seen anyone get sick from the poop getting in their eyes or mouth?

He was saying scientific what?

And to my surprise, as I went back to the temple as the festivities began, a mainstream news reporter was here.

Keep in mind, while mainstream news can upload coverage of cultural events like these...

And it's considered journalism.

It seems like when individuals like myself go, it's a racist attack on their culture.

In fact, two weeks ago, I uploaded this teaser clip of this poop throwing festival.

It's evolved into tens of thousands of Indian nationalists trying to ruin my life.

But of course, I've gone through far too much shit to not upload this video.

Tell me your full name.

One minute.

What do you do?

How old are you?

And where are you from?

My name is Tyler Oliveira.

I'm 25 years old.

I've traveled nearly 10,000 miles from Texas, USA.

I thought it was a myth.

I thought it was a legend.

I thought it was fiction.

And now here I am with everyone, ready to celebrate, ready to see the poop fly, the shit smear, and to celebrate an amazing holiday, hopefully.

Thank you for having me, everyone.

Holy shit.

Let Garaba begin.

Now they're bringing the poop our direction.

ready to be smeared and thrown at the children.

Let the shit show begin!

Happy Gurampa!

Happy Gurampa!

It's an amazing event.

I want to give a shout out to the village.

You guys are amazingly hospitable, kind people.

Happy Diwali.

God bless you.

God bless India.

Let the shit show begin!

You must catch up with the poop.

You gotta catch up with the poop.

Okay.

The cow poop has been released.

More poop.

Mayday, mayday.

Let's think on this one's next level.

This is gargantuan.

This is more poop than we ever could have imagined.

A full truckload of cow poop being unloaded right now.

It's gotta be a ton worth of poop.

But before the adult men battle it out, in a pile of poop a size larger than your imagination is capable of conceiving, the kids first have a smaller scale battle of their own.

It's a war zone.

Battle's over.

I mean, the kid's going to another flight pad right here.

Okay, they're getting mad at each other.

It just never ends.

This is phenomenal.

Will you be playing?

I am.

Okay, very good.

Amazing.

I gotta say it, this bubble's starting to get to me.

I'm gonna get hit.

I'm gonna walk out of here covered in shit.

Hey!

Good people.

Oh, they spared me.

They spared me.

Oh, no!

Oh!

I've been covered.

I've been hit.

I've been hit.

As the kids marched to and from every house in the village, battling it out, some were having fun and some were not.

Oh!

Oh!

Oh!

Oh, you're actually hit!

Oh!

Run!

Get him!

Get him!

Yeah, get him!

Four!

Uh-oh!

Uh-oh!

Evacuate, evacuate!

He got hit.

While the kids finished their poop war, the battle preparations for the grown men were nearly complete.

My God.

Look at the sheer scope of poop right here.

Look at how much shit there is.

Oh my God, I'm slipping.

Just look at how much there is.

There's a lot of poop right here.

My feet instantly sunk into it.

Unbelievable quantities of shit right here.

Truckloads of poop just dumped out into the main city street right now.

Oh my goodness.

Unfathomable quantities of shit.

That one smells.

Another truckload, that's one, two, three, four truckloads of poop right here.

May the shit be with you.

Unbelievable, he's just wiping it, just wiping it.

Powerful scent.

We're gonna recharge and prepare for war.

With the poop unloaded, the march towards the battlefield had begun.

But first, these guys rolled in the grass.

Wow.

And then the men gave this donkey a bath in the water for some reason.

I did almost see it.

Oh, shit!

Go back!

Go back!

Go back!

Move back!

Move back!

My god!

Get up in the air!

Get up in the air!

And finally, the gladiators entered the poop coliseum.

USA, Texas.

Take them off?

OK, OK.

The dogs are coming off.

Will you be covered in poop by the end of this?

My friend, I may be too.

I'm nervous.

Time for war.

Time for war.

Everyone get in your stations.

OK, yes.

They're going for it.

Oh my god.

My goodness.

My goodness.

Unbelievable.

And I swear, the moment I stepped in the pile of poop, it nearly swallowed me whole.

This is disgusting.

This is unbelievable.

While I was hesitant to get my hands dirty, I realized the throwing of this poop was far more violent and aggressive than I expected.

This was war.

While the men were throwing poop meteors enough to concuss each other, I was naive to think I could be a war journalist without getting shot in the crossfire.

Please spare me.

What the fuck?!

Pray for me!

He says to play with me like the Joker!

I'm gonna cover you!

Oh my god!

I'm covering his shit!

India's poop throwing festival, the smell in here is inexplicable.

Please spare me God, God.

I'm covered in shit, I'm covered in shit.

I gotta throw up, I gotta throw up.

oh my god oh oh oh my god oh okay

Any clean part of my body will do.

So you want water?

Just a paper towel, anything.

They got me good.

I was defeated.

What if what the Indians online had said about me was true?

Was my immune system weak and was my mind even weaker?

How could this be the thing that broke me?

I had traveled over 10,000 miles for this day.

Oh, it's okay.

It's okay.

It's okay, I'm good.

Let's try it again, let's try it again.

And I couldn't let India down as their first participant from America.

I refused to let the poop win.

I had to make it all the way through to the other side of the battlefield.

No, no, no, oh, oh, a brutality, a fatality.

Let's just go for it, let's just go for it.

So, I loaded up on ammunition.

Oh, there you, there you, there you.

He's instantly reloading.

Oh, there you, there you, there you.

Let's get right here.

And began pushing forward towards fecal nirvana.

Let's go for it.

It's kind of fun.

It's very fun.

It is.

It's pretty fun.

Pretty fun.

I like it.

Oh, there you are.

This is complete warfare.

I can barely navigate this shit right now.

I can barely navigate it.

I've been hit.

I've been hit.

This is festival for India poop.

Poop?

Yeah.

India number one.

Number one.

Amazing.

Amazing.

You literally need the best one out of here.

Oh, my God.

Oh.

Oh.

Oh, I'm afraid.

Please help me out of this.

Oh, my God.

I'm sinking!

I'm sinking!

I'm going to die today.

I'm going to die today.

They're going to kill me.

So much shit.

So much shit.

We keep pushing.

We keep pushing.

I walk untouched.

I am the one who shoots.

Keep moving!

I'm sinking!

Even with the hazmat suit and goggles, I had reached my limit.

I gotta get out of here!

Hello!

That was shittier than I expected.

Yes.

They won.

That was the shittiest experience of my life.

I don't even know what to say right now.

I got my ass beaten there.

These guys don't play around.

I got mosh pit, but worse.

I pray to God I don't get E. coli, salmonella, or Girardia.

Oh, there you, there you, there you.

Oh, there you.

That was the shittiest experience of my life.

It is kind of fun throwing it at people straight in the head.

It's pretty satisfying.

That was fun.

That was fun.

Would I recommend it?

No.

Am I happy to enjoy it?

I guess.

Do I ever want to come back to this again?

No.

Will I ever forget this?

Absolutely not.

Was everyone here extremely nice?

Absolutely.

Amazingly kind village.

And I will definitely be doing blood work very soon.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

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