Why does this Tamil Nadu village throw cow dung to end Diwali?

In a remote village in Thalavadi in Tamil Nadu’s Erode district, the end of Diwali is celebrated in, what many would call, a bizarre manner.
But, it’s a celebration that is about 300 years old where villagers gather to mark the end of Diwali festival.
And it involves dung flinging.
Several generations of villagers gather in the village for the annual cattle dung flinging festival. This 300-year-old festival is conducted as a part of Beereswarar temple festival on the fourth day after Diwali.

This year, as part of the festival, cattle dung from across the village was collected on Sunday morning and filled in a pit. After a ceremonial ritual of the deity in the temple tank, villagers jumped into the pit and began to fling cattle dung against each other.

One of the beliefs surrounding the festival is that the pit used as a natural compost for several centuries was the place where a shivling was discovered which is now placed inside Beereswarar temple.
Once the cattle dung flinging ritual is complete, the dung is then distributed amongst villagers who then use it for nourishing their cultivation and believe this enriches the year’s yield.

In Gumatapura village, located on the border of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, the locals mark the end of Diwali every year with a similar cow dung fight. The festival, called ‘Gorehabba’ is celebrated in Karnataka. is reportedly more than a hundred years old.