Beersamunda tribal fete begins in Khammam dist

Mateti Venu Gopal Khammam: The two-day Beersamunda inter-State tribal cultural festivities commenced at Chintur in Khammam district on Wednesday. Adivasis celebrate the festival to mark the launching of agricultural works. They also perform `Bhumi puja' in this connection. The Girijans celebrate such festivities at the beginning of various seasons in a year. They celebrate certain festivities once in three years. Koya, Kondareddy, Gondu, Pawars and other tribes comprise Adivasis and they live in the forest areas in Adilabad, Karimnagar, Warangal, Khammam, Mahbubnagar, Kurnool, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam and West Godavari districts in Andhra Pradesh. Tribal people from Chattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra also participate in the Beersamunda festival. The Girijans bring a special variety of log (Palakarra) from forest and perform traditional pooja to the village deity Mutyalamma. Then they go for hunting and share the meat of the hunted animals among themselves. They prepare food with cooked mutton, newly arrived vegetables and leaves. For any festival, they consume liquor made from Ippa flowers, toddy from palmyrah and wild date (Eetha) trees and other forest varieties. They celebrate festivities for better harvest of beans (chikkudu), mangoes, palm trees and Ippa flower. They offer traditional prayers by using musical instruments and drums to the Goddess seeking good harvest of vegetables and fruits. The tribes also perform `pujas' based on the name of their sects and communities. The tribal priest at the village performs traditional pujas to the deity at the village seeking all-round development of thandas (settlements). The priest also conducts marriages of the eligible youth as per tradition which they have been following for several decades.