New Delhi  - An Indian man cut off his tongue to appease a deity at a temple in India's eastern state of Orissa state, a news report said Wednesday.

Aswini Patel, 25, went to a temple in Rourkela city on Tuesday, sliced off his tongue with a razor blade and offered it at the idol of Hindu god Shiva, police told the IANS news agency.

Rourkela lies some 500 kilometres north of state capital Bhubaneshwar.

Relatives of the temple priest spotted the man when he was trying to put his severed tongue near the idol and informed the police, inspector Prasanta Mohanty said.

The man was rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors who operated on him said he might be able to speak again.

Shiva, among the popular deities in India, is one of the gods in the Hindu holy trinity. The triad comprises Brahma, the creator, Vishnu the preserver or sustainer and Shiva the destroyer.

There is a centuries-old tradition of sacrifices to appease deities in India, but the practice has diminished.

Last year, a man in northern Jammu and Kashmir state cut off his tongue to appease goddess Kali. Earlier, a man in another state slit the throat of his 4-year-old son, saying he saw visions of Kali demanding a human sacrifice. (dpa)