An estimated 1,500 folks attended a funeral for a monkey in India lately, with the funerary rites together with a big procession and feast.

Footage posted to Twitter confirmed crowds of individuals attending the occasion, the place the final rites for the langur monkey occurred. Music may be heard taking part in within the footage whereas a procession is seen alongside what appeared to pyre bearing the physique of the monkey held aloft by residents attending the funeral.

Attendees on the occasion, which occurred in a village within the central state of Madhya Pradesh, have been additionally filmed sitting down in teams on the occasion and consuming meals served by others beneath a vibrant marquee construction.

Monkeys are thought-about sacred for many individuals in India for his or her connection within the Hindu faith to Hauman, a Hindu deity carefully linked with the animals.

Langur monkeys, of which there are numerous subspecies, are a typical sight throughout the Indian subcontinent and work together with people ceaselessly.

Research have mentioned how growing human proximity with the monkeys has impacted their behaviour, with one analysis paper revealed within the Worldwide Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation suggesting that langurs have come to rely more and more on meals cultivated by their human neighbours.

Two folks have been arrested on account of the monkey funeral, NDTV.com reported. This was as a result of an alleged breach of COVID restrictions in relation to the occasion.

NDTV mentioned that the funeral had been organised by residents of Dalupura, a village in Madhya Pradesh, after the demise of a langur monkey that was a frequent customer to the village earlier than its demise on December 29.

The occasion reportedly breached Part 144, a authorized framework in India that permits main officers of a state or territory in India to ban or restrict gatherings of individuals in pressing circumstances or to apprehend hazard. Part 144 has been utilized by the nationwide and state governments in India to implement safety measures linked to the COVID pandemic.

World Well being Group (WHO) information confirmed that India reported 168,063 new circumstances of COVID within the newest 24-hour interval.

The second most populous nation on Earth, with round 1.38 billion inhabitants, India has reported 35,875,790 confirmed circumstances of COVID with 484,213 deaths linked to the pandemic.

In Madhya Pradesh the place the funeral occurred, there have been a reported 2,317 new COVID circumstances and one demise within the newest 24-hour interval, with a reported rise in circumstances linked to the unfold of the Omicron variant.

Langur monkeys in India
Indian grey langurs sit atop a dome of the Orchha palace fort in Madhya Pradesh, India. The monkeys are thought-about sacred by many in India for his or her hyperlinks to the Hindu deity Hauman. XAVIER GALIANA/Getty Pictures