Nagoba Jatara begins on grand note in Adilabad
Adilabad: The annual Nagoba Jatara, an important religious and cultural affair of Mesram, one of the seven clans belonging to Raj Gonds began on a colourful start at Keslapur village of Indervelli mandal on Monday night.
The fair is the second largest congregation after the biannual Sammakka Saralamma Jatara organised at Medaram in Mulugu district. Mesrams purified the shrine with water brought by women from a holy pond located near the shrine and using water drawn from Godavari in 1,400-year-old Jhari. They ceremoniously performed Maha puja and Satheek rituals on the first day of the five-day long fair for an hour. The traditional rituals were organised as per customs of the Gonds till midnight, under the guidance of their priests locally known Katoda and Patadi and elders of the clan.
Bheting, a special attraction
The ceremony of Bheting, a formal introduction of new daughter-in-laws to the deity, was a special attraction of the first day of the fair. Over 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 were later given clay pots from their elders as part of the ritual.
The Mesrams later felicitated MLC Dande Vittal MLAs Rekha Naik, Athram Sakku, Zilla Parishad chairperson Rathod Janardhan, Collector Sikta Patnaik, SP D Uday Kumar Reddy and Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA)-Utnoor project officer Ankith Kumar for gracing the occasion. They presented portraits of Nagoba to the dignitaries. They expressed gratitude to the district administration for taking steps for the smooth conduct of the fair.
Face masks distributed
District Additional Medical and Health Officer K Manohar distributed face masks to the members of the clan. He requested them to follow Covid-19 protocol. He stated that devotees could be vaccinated against the virus at the fair if they produce an Aadhaar card. Seer Mesram Venkat Rao, Katoda Mesram Koserao, Mesram Hanumanth, Pradhan Mesram Dadarao, Kotwal Mesram Tirupathi and many others were present.
Aboriginal tribal dwelling in several parts of Telangana, neighboring Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh made a beeline to sleepy Keslapur which came alive following the arrival of thousands of devotees. Telangana State Road Transportation Corporation (TSRTC)-Adilabad depot plied special buses to Keslapur village from Adilabad, Utnoor, Nirmal and other parts.
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