With goddess ‘watching’, houses here have no doors

SINGIPUR - The houses of this village have no doors, yet its residents don’t feel the lack of protection as they believe goddess Kali watches over them. What’s more, no thefts have been reported here for many years.

“It may be surprising for an outsider, but for us it has become a tradition. We have been living without doors from time immemorial,” Sajeevan Pal, 75, a farmer and resident, told IANS.

Singipur is on the outskirts of Allahabad district, some 200 km from the state capital Lucknow. Thatched, mud and cemented houses all exist in the village, but they share a common feature - not having the provisions of doors for its 140-odd houses.

Locals have a strong belief that goddess Kali protects their homes and would even punish those who attempt robbery or theft.

“We have full faith in the goddess…It’s all due to her blessings we leave our houses without any worry,” said Rajanraj, 42, who runs a dairy in the village.

Singipur has a population of around 500 who are primarily from the lower middle class. The majority of the population comprises people from the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (SCs/STs) and Other Backward Castes (OBCs). Most of these people run dairies or work as labourers at construction sites.

There’s a small temple dedicated to the goddess, and that too is without doors or gates. The temple does not have a priest.

“Anyone who would commit theft or robbery in our homes would invite the wrath of our goddess. On a number of occasions, according to our elders, those who committed theft or robbery in the past either met with untimely death or got afflicted with serious health disorders that ultimately claimed their lives,” said Rajanraj.

Police inspector Ajay Kumar Singh, under whose jurisdiction the village falls, told IANS: “It’s a unique custom. I don’t think such a tradition exists in other parts of Uttar Pradesh. The first time I came to know about Singipur, I was taken by surprise.”

“I haven’t come across a single house with full-fledged doors. Though one may find makeshift doors made of bamboo in front of a few houses, these are set up only to ward off animals,” he added.

According to Singh, no case of theft or robbery has been reported for the last several years from the village.

(Asit Srivastava can be contacted at asit.s@ians.in)