For many years, local villagers of Vetangudipatti and Periya Kollukudipatti villages near Tirupattur have celebrated Diwali without burning firecrackers, as they don’t want to hurt the birds in the Vettangudi bird sanctuary, Sivagangai district.
The Vettangudi birds’ sanctuary is a natural habitat for winter migratory birds which fly from as far as Switzerland, Russia, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka. The sanctuary is a safe place for roosting, breeding, and feeding. The sanctuary attracts 15,000 birds a year.
The sanctuary has been considered one of the safe and protected breeding grounds for over 200 species of migratory birds for almost half a century, which have flocked to the irrigation tanks in Vettangudi, Periya Kollukudi Patti, and Chinna Kollukudi Patti ever since the local villagers have been celebrating crackerless Diwali.
As a mark of appreciation for the villagers’ decision, the Forest Department has been distributing half-kg sweets to all residents of the three villages on every Diwali. Not just for Diwali. The villagers do not burst crackers even during marriages and temple festivals.
“We do not burst firecrackers in this village, for birds. Birds are like our pets, so we avoid bursting crackers altogether. Our children were also kept away from bursting crackers for the sake of bird. It’s been twenty years since I came to this town, but till now I have never celebrated Diwali with crackers,” Maheshwari, a resident of Vettangudipatti, told ANI.
Another local resident, said that “I am 75 years old and have never celebrated Diwali. We see the birds that come here as our children, so we don’t celebrate Diwali for birds,” he added.