A small village in Andhra, Kesalingayapalli, has recently gained attention for a peculiar reason. It is now famously known as a ‘Hindu-only’ village. The villagers have planted saffron flags on the roadsides, declaring a warning that no other religious belief, other than Hinduism, will be practiced here.
Also, they have erected ‘caution’ boards on either side of the village to stop Christians from entering their village.
The boards read:
“In this village, everyone is a Hindu, hence people of other religions cannot propagate their religion here. If someone violates this warning, stern action will be taken against them—By: People of Kesalingayapalli. If you convert to a different religion, it is akin to changing your own mother.”
Well, not just saffron caution boards, but houses and tea-shops, too, have erected flags with ‘Om’ written on them, to keep other religions and faiths away.
A villager, Venkata Ramana, justifies their urgency to protect their faith and village:
“Over the past few years, the Christians have entered our village and lured our people with money and medicine. We (Hindus) never did that. They were brainwashing our people and taking them into their fold. To stop the menace, we confronted them a couple of times and shooed them away. But as they continued to come, we decided to erect a warning board.”
Surprisingly, this village has become a ‘role model’ for neighboring villages.