Inavole jatara gets underway

Warangal: The Inavole jatara, one of the renowned fairs in Telangana, got underway at the Lord Mallikharjuna Swamy temple at Inavole in Hanumakonda district on Friday with the 'Dhwajarohanam' ritual. People believe that the childless couple would be blessed with an offspring at this nearly 1,000-year-old temple. It may be mentioned here that the Kakatiyan era temple was built by Ayyanna Deva, a minister of the Kakatiya dynasty, in the 11th century AD. The presiding deity Lord Mallikarjuna is worshiped as Mylarudeva along with His consorts Balija Medalamma and Golla Kethamma.

The district administration has made arrangements for the smooth conduct of the jatara by setting up of washrooms, drinking water, changing rooms etc with an outlay of Rs 2 crore. On the other hand, the police made elaborate security arrangements to avoid stampedes. As many as 300 police personnel were deployed at the temple. In all, 100 CCTV cameras have been installed in and around the temple to monitor the crowd.

As many as 300 sanitary workers have been deployed to ensure hygienic conditions at the temple, the Executive Officer A Nageswara Rao said. The TSRTC is plying 130 buses to ferry the devotees. The main jatara will begin on Saturday on the occasion of Bhogi. The jatara (Brahmotsavam) will end on March 22.