Nagoba Jatara begins on a grand note in Telangana’s Adilabad

Under the supervision of Mesram Venkat Rao and priests Kosu, members of the clan performed Maha Puja and Satheek puja to kick start the seven-day-long holy affair between 10 pm and 11.30 pm by closing gates of the shrine

Adilabad: The annual Nagoba Jatara, an important religious and cultural affair of Mesram clan in Raj Gond community was begun on a grand note at Keslapur village in Indervelli mandal on Tuesday night.

Under the supervision of Mesram Venkat Rao and priests Kosu, members of the clan performed Maha Puja and Satheek puja to kick start the seven-day-long holy affair between 10 pm and 11.30 pm by closing gates of the shrine. Mesrams felicitated Collector Rajarshi Shah, MLA Vedma Bojju and SP Gaush Alam after the rituals. They allowed tribals to visit the temple from 12 am onwards.

Earlier, Mesrams who were camping under banyan trees near Nagoba temple for four days, visited an old temple, Muradi located in the village. Women of the clan earlier fetched water drawn from a holy pond in clay pots and used it in conducting various rituals and preparing dishes. Son-in-laws brought clay from a spot near Nagoba temple.

Women members of the clan prepared anthills using the clay on the premises of Nagoba temple as part of the affair. Mesrams cleansed the shrine with sacred Ganga jal drawn from Godavari River in Mancherial district. They performed special prayers and worshipped the serpentine god. While conducting the rituals and prayers tribal people played traditional musical instruments, Kalikom, Pepre, Thudum and Dol, filling the air with spiritual exuberance.

Persapen and Bankapen Puja are going to be performed on Thursday, while Praja Darbar, a grievance redressal will be held on January 31. Betal Puja and Mandagajling Puja are scheduled to be conducted on February 3 and 4. Half a dozen Raj Gond elders jump in the air reportedly after getting possessed by the Betal god. They exhibit their fighting prowess by rotating large sticks that represent the god.

The ceremony of Bheting, a formal introduction of new daughter-in-laws to the deity, was a special attraction on the first day of the fair. About 100 women from the families of the clan participated in the event. The ceremony makes them eligible to offer prayers at the temple. The women would later be given clay pots from their elders as part of the ritual.

Nagoba Jatara sees the second largest congregation of tribals from several parts of Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh after biennial Sammakka-Saralamma jatara at Medaram of Mulugu district.