MYSURU: Walking on hot coals to propitiate gods and goddesses is common. But in Banahalli village in Chamarajanagar district , burning embers are offered to the goddess as naivedyam (offering) by farmers who pray for a disease-free crop.The unusual offering to goddess Satyadevate has been the practice here for generations. At the two-day annual car festival, which was held on Monday and Tuesday this year, embers were offered on a banana leaf to the deity. Kumar Banahalli, a local resident, told TOI that the temple priest made the offering on behalf of the villagers. "Puja is performed to this deity every day. Usually, a lamp is lit in front of the deity and camphor is offered. It is only at the annual festival that embers are offered," he explained."On both days of the car festival, temple priest Subbanna keeps a fast. He drinks only tender coconut water," Banahalli said. "Around 11am, he cuts a tree and hacks it into pieces. Around 1pm, villagers irrespective of caste, set fire to the wood. At 6pm, the smouldering embers are offered as naivedyam to the deity."A ritual is followed for the goddess to accept the offering. "A white cloth is kept on the embers to ensure that no one sees the goddess eating the naivedyam. After this, a mahamangalarati is performed," Banahalli said.Once the embers die, the locals collect the ash and sprinkle it in their fields. Nagaraj, another resident, said the common belief among farmers is that the holy ash protects the crop against all diseases.Gram panchayat member BM Nataraj said the temple does not fall under the muzrai department. "The car festival was stopped for a few years due to some local reasons. This year, we restarted the car festival," he said.Parameshwarappa, a local resident, said this year, nearly 5,000 devotees had gathered for the festival. "The festival is a symbol of our rural life and this unique naivedyam concept has been followed for hundreds of years," he said.