Adilabad: Mesrams camp under banyan trees at Keslapur

Carrying sacred water drawn from Godavari river, members of Mesram clan initially reached Indrayi Devi temple in Indervelli mandal centre and then arrived near the ancient Nagoba temple at Keslapur village to camp under banyan trees

Adilabad: Carrying sacred water drawn from Godavari river, members of Mesram clan initially reached Indradevi or Indrayi Devi temple in Indervelli mandal centre and then arrived near the ancient Nagoba temple at Keslapur village to camp under banyan trees for four days, on Tuesday.

Under the supervision of headman of the clan (Patel) Venkat Rao and Katoda or priests Kosu and Dade Rao and pen kothwal or servant Thirupathi, Mesrams performed traditional rituals and worshipped Indradevi in the morning. They then proceeded to Keslapur village in order to stay under the banyan trees at around 7 pm.

Venkat Rao said that the Mesrams would camp at this holy spot listening to legends of Nagoba narrated by Pardhan bards for the four days. They would perform Thumpuja to pay tributes to elders who died in this year on January 20. They will commence their important annual religious and religious affair Nagoba Jatara by ceremoniously organising Mahapuja in the night of January 21.

The members of this clan have already completed an important event of gathering the holy water from Godavari in a 1,400 year old brass container Jhari at a spot called Hasthanamadugu near Kalamadugu village in Jannaram mandal on January 10. They walked barefoot for 130 kilometers, covering 40 villages. They embarked on the journey from Keslapur village on January 1.