🐗Everything you need to know about Panjurli - the divine boar from Kantara

Every year, in many parts of India, farmers have to deal with huge financial losses caused by invading hordes of wild boars.

These hairy mammals are known to raid village fields and destroy crops by crushing or eating them.

Perhaps gleefully unaware or performing dharmic duties, wild boars cause severe damage to crops during the harvesting season by wallowing & rooting, and even form holes or grooves that harm farm equipment, in turn jeopardizing regular operations.

Why so furious?

To the untrained eye, the wild boar's problematic nature might stem from the fairly recent depletion in forest cover, or the absence of fodder.  

However, history suggests otherwise. The animal has been a menace for agriculturalists since at least the Upper Paleolithic age, with the oldest depiction being a cave painting in Bhimbetaka.

A God is born

Unlike in the West, where the other or the alien is inherently villainous, the Indian ethos prefers to divinise even the most menacing of creatures, sometimes placing them in its ever-expanding, open-source pantheon of deities.