Fanning piety of all faiths with peacock feathers

Ahmedabad: Wandering through the thick vegetation in areas around the Vasna barrage, Nanubhai Rabari has collected more than 11,000 peacock feathers shed by the birds. Rabari, 65, the caretaker of the Vasna barrage compound, plans to distribute these to religious places of all faiths.

“I spent the past 50 days looking for peacock feathers in the dense vegetation in areas opposite the barrage, at Fatehwadi and other surrounding zones,” Rabari said. “I will distribute the feathers to temples, dargahs, gurudwaras, derasars, and agiaries this week.”

Peacock feathers are considered to be auspicious and are used for various purposes at religious places. Rabari said that around this time of the year, peacocks shed the feathers and he has been collecting these by roaming around the areas with sizable populations of peacocks.

“There are about 400 peacocks in the thick vegetation opposite the Vasna barrage and some 200 at Fatehwadi,” Rabari said. “About a month ago, I would collect approximately 100 feathers daily. But over the past fortnight, I have been finding more than 300 feathers every day.”

Rabari said that one peacock sheds between 100 and 125 feathers by the time the monsoon season ends.

Rabari, who has been the caretaker of the Vasna barrage compound for over 30 years, said that he has encountered snakes, scorpions, and wasps during his feather-collecting forays. “Thankfully, I did not get attacked,” he said. “There are many wasps in the vegetation opposite the barrage and their sting can be lethal.”

Rabari said that last year he gifted 5,000 peacock feathers to the Jagannath temple. This time, he intends to distribute the feathers to over a dozen significant religious places across the city.