This Satara Village Turns Into A Ghost Town After Gudi Padwa As Villagers Desert It For Five Days—Here’s The Fascinating Reason

We must have heard many stories from various villages, but this tradition from Satara village will truly amaze you. Gondemal, this village in the Satara district, has a unique custom. The villagers of Gondemal village leave the village on the third day of Gudi Padwa and go to live in the temple of the neighboring village, Mhate Budruk. They stay there for five days. This custom has been going on for many years and is being preserved.

Gondemal is a village with a population of only four and a half hundred, located six kilometers south of Medha in Javali Taluka of Satara district.

Earlier, people in the village did not have more than one child in each family. At that time, after making a vow to God, the people of this village would only expand their families if they went outside the village gates. Therefore, the ancestors of Gondemal started the custom of leaving the village from the beginning of the new year of Padwa.

On the second day of Padwa, a small pilgrimage of the goddess is held in the village. After all the villagers gather for this pilgrimage, they plan to leave the village the next day. Everyone agrees on this, and on the third morning, everyone leaves the village and stays at the temple of Navlai Devi in the nearby village of Mhate Budruk.

Tradition followed every 3 year

Once every three years, all the villagers of Gondemal village leave the village on their own and stay in the neighboring village. When they come, they bring all the necessities of life with them. What's more, they bring their domestic animals like bulls, cows, buffaloes, chickens, goats, sheep, dogs, and cats. They take care of this so that the village becomes deserted. They bring everyone's food grains, clothes, and fodder with them.

That's why no one stays in the village, but till date, there has not been a single theft. Although cattle are animals that run here and there, they come in a line when leaving this village. During this time, the villagers of Mhate Budruk cooperate with them.

Earlier, villagers used to believe that ghosts stayed in the village for these five days. However, the villagers no longer believe in this theory, yet they continue to follow the tradition. Late Dr Narendra Dabholkar, then president of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS), had enlightened the people of Gondemal village many years ago after he heard about the story of ghosts staying in the village for five days.

This tradition has been going on for many generations, year after year, and the villagers have also preserved this tradition to this day. While we are aware of various rituals across the country, this tradition of a village in Satara is truly unique.