Manav Gogoi
Neelkanth (The Indian Roller)
The Indian roller is very common in the populated plains of India and associated with legends. It is said to be sacred to Vishnu, and used to be caught and released during festivals such as Dussera and Durga Puja. A local Hindi name is neelkanth,meaning "blue throat", a name associated with the deity Shiva (who drank poison resulting in the blue throat).
Another local name in Telugu is 'pala pitta', and in Kannada it is 'neelakanthi'. Adding its chopped feathers to grass and feeding them to cows was believed to increase their milk yield. The Indian roller has been chosen as the state bird by the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Karnataka and Telangana. It was also named as the National animal of the former defunct Hyderabad State.
Neelkanth (The Indian Roller)
The Indian roller is very common in the populated plains of India and associated with legends. It is said to be sacred to Vishnu, and used to be caught and released during festivals such as Dussera and Durga Puja. A local Hindi name is neelkanth,meaning "blue throat", a name associated with the deity Shiva (who drank poison resulting in the blue throat).
Another local name in Telugu is 'pala pitta', and in Kannada it is 'neelakanthi'. Adding its chopped feathers to grass and feeding them to cows was believed to increase their milk yield. The Indian roller has been chosen as the state bird by the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Karnataka and Telangana. It was also named as the National animal of the former defunct Hyderabad State.