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Jataras become larger than life
The festivals and jataras in Indian culture have a special role in making life exuberant and lively and they are said to be passageways to certain philosophical aspects of life. Signifying the aforementioned conviction, Warangal district with its numerous jataras (fairs) stands out and highlight the religious as well as cultural traditions of the people.
Warangal: The festivals and jataras in Indian culture have a special role in making life exuberant and lively and they are said to be passageways to certain philosophical aspects of life. Signifying the aforementioned conviction, Warangal district with its numerous jataras (fairs) stands out and highlight the religious as well as cultural traditions of the people.
World famous Sammakka Saralamma Jatara of Medaram and its mini version held at Agrampad, historic Iloni Mallanna Jatara of Inavolu, Komuravelli Jatara, Kuravi Jatara of Dornakal, Kommala Jatara of Narsampet, Someshwara Swamy Jatara of Palakurthy and Musalamma Jatara at Gunjedu are well-known.
There is always a legend connected to every jatara. It is either related to an incarnation of deities-saints or great personalities who fought for wellbeing of people against the tyrannical forces. Some jataras goes on for months and some for a fortnight or for a week. For instance, Inavolu event begins during Sankranti season and continues till ‘Ugadi’.
The same is the tradition with Komuravelli jatara, which begins in December and concludes during Ugadi. It is to be noted that at many places it is the incarnation of Lord Shiva worshiped in different incarnations. Lord Shiva is worshipped as Mallikarjuna Swamy at Inavolu and at Komuravelli Jatara while he is worshipped as Sri Veera Bhadra Swamy at Kuravi Jatara.
Lakhs of pilgrims from across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka come to the district to attend these jataras. Inavolu Jatara is mainly patronised by Yadava, Golla, Kuruma and Balija communities while Komuravelli Jatara is attended by Yadava
community.
‘Siva Sattulu’ and ‘Pothurajus’ dancing under trance while chanting invocations to God, women carrying ‘Bonams’ (sacred rice cooked in a new earthen pot) are the special features of these events. Besides religious activity, huge amount of economic activity also takes place during these jataras as people come and raise a temporary settlement in and around the temples to stay for two and three days and engage in fun and frolic.
‘Basically the jataras are started by rural folks and now owned and patronised by urbanites. As a result many such events have assumed larger than life dimension and it is unique characteristic of Warangal,’ opined an associate professor of KU, K Damodar Rao. That is the reason why the governments also coming forward to make arrangements for these events and even announcing these events as state festivals, he added. The bottom line is that there is a town called ‘Jatara’, a nagar panchayat in Tikamgarh district in Madhya Pradesh.
