Copyright news18
A US-based YouTuber has come under fire after posting a video from a traditional festival in Karnataka where villagers throw cow dung at each other to mark the end of Diwali. The creator, Tyler Oliveira, attended the Gorehabba festival in Gumatapura village and documented his experience, but his tone and presentation have drawn strong criticism from Indian users. The video, which was uploaded on October 23, showed Oliveira participating in the centuries-old local ritual that honours Beereshwara Swamy, a village deity believed to have been born from cow dung. For the people of Gumatapura, the festival is a mark of celebration and faith. But Oliveira’s portrayal of it in a video titled “Inside India’s Poop-Throwing Festival” has upset many viewers who felt he mocked a religious tradition rather than showing it respectfully. What The YouTuber Posted Online In the one-minute clip shared on X (formerly Twitter), Oliveira can be seen wearing a hazmat suit and goggles as villagers hurl dried cow dung around him. Covered in mud and dung, he films himself moving through the crowd, saying, “Spare me, so much s**t,” before getting hit by chunks of dung. Moments later, he turns around and says, “I gotta get out of here.” https://twitter.com/tyleraloevera/status/1981421158957248963 He later uploaded another video titled “I Survived India’s Poop-Throwing Festival” that showed him walking barefoot on a road with his hazmat suit smeared in dung. This clip has accumulated more than six million views on X. I Survived India’s Poop-Throwing Festival… pic.twitter.com/1zW4QocArh — Tyler Oliveira (@tyleraloevera) October 25, 2025 Along with the clip, he posted a photo of himself after the event, captioned, “Happy Diwali! Yes, I went to India’s poop throwing festival. It was the s—tiest experience of my life. I will never go back. Please pray that I survive,” followed by a poop emoji. https://twitter.com/tyleraloevera/status/1981365486496653448 Strong Reactions From Indian Users The tone of Oliveira’s videos and captions immediately drew anger across social platforms. Many accused him of mocking Indian culture and spreading a negative image of the country. One user commented, “Come to India – Find one isolated event somewhere in a remote area – Make a video – Make it look like every Indian street is the same. India has a lot of problems, a lot of things to correct, but these Goras coming to manufacture further global hate just to earn money and views should never be allowed. Govt of India must blacklist him and cancel his visa.” Another wrote, “Why do you have to come to India and then record a video of a cow dung festival by going in the middle of the event and then cry like a loser. You shitty fellow. You can record poop in Western countries, plenty on streets of California. Human poop you can record in your countries. Make videos.” “But brother why did you attend that? And then posted everything and now again you are posting this to get sympathy from world? Why are you destroying the name of our country? No one forced you to attend that,” someone questioned. “How do foreigners always manage to find the worst possible places in India? There are good things too,” read another comment. YouTuber’s Reaction To Criticism As criticism mounted, Oliveira shared screenshots suggesting his video was being mass reported by Indian users. My videos capturing India’s poop-throwing festivals are already getting mass reported Some users even speculated that his footage was AI-generated, to which he responded, “This is 100% real. I can’t wait to show you a 30-minute version of it… Traveling 10,000 miles and spending thousands of dollars.” This is 100% real. I can’t wait to show you a 30 minute version of it. — Tyler Oliveira (@tyleraloevera) October 23, 2025 It isn’t racist to film a poop-throwing festival. Was this article written by an Indian? https://t.co/8PMrTVfGeS — Tyler Oliveira (@tyleraloevera) October 26, 2025 Addressing the outrage, the 25-year-old YouTuber defended his work, stating, “It isn’t racist to film a poop-throwing festival.” He later added that some Indians were claiming “Pakistanis funded my trip” to the event.
