Telangana: Nagoba Jatara gets off to colorful start in Adilabad

The fair, touted to be a symbol of ancient traditions, is the second largest congregation after the biennial Sammakka Sarakka Jatara at Medaram in Mulugu district

Adilabad: The five-day long Nagoba Jatara, an important religious and cultural affair of the Mesram clan, got off to a colorful start on the premises of a newly built temple at Keslapur village in Indervelli from midnight on Saturday. Mesram is one of the seven clans belonging to the Raj Gond tribe. The fair, touted to be a symbol of ancient traditions, is the second largest congregation after the biennial Sammakka Sarakka Jatara at Medaram in Mulugu district.

Under the supervision of Mesram Venkat Rao and priests Kosu, Mesrams ceremoniously performed special prayers or abhishekam to the Nagoba deity using holy water drawn from Godavari to initiate Maha Puja at 10 pm. They later conducted Satheek and other rituals till 12 pm. They allowed devotees to take darshan of the serpentine god.

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Meanwhile, the women moulded ant hills using clay and water on the premises of the shrine and prepared Naivedyam presented to Nagoba deity. They felicitated district authorities and public representatives for gracing the occasion at the end of rituals. They earlier cleansed the shrine with water brought by women from a holy open well located near the shrine and the water brought from Godavari.

Bheting, a special attraction

The ceremony of Bheting, a formal introduction of new daughter-in-laws to the deity, was a special attraction and one of the key events organized 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 were later given clay pots from their elders as part of the ritual.

A large number of tribals belonging to not only Telangana, but also Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and other parts of the country reached Keslapur and stood in queue to have darshan of the deity on Sunday. They took shelter under make-shift tents, facing chilly weather conditions. They arrived using various means including cars, trolleys, jeeps, auto-rickshaws and two-wheelers.

MLAs Rekha Naik, Koneru Konappa, MLC Dande Vittal, Collector Sikta Patnaik, SP Uday Kumar Reddy, ITDA PO K Varun Reddy and Additional Collector Chahat Bajpai were among those honored by the Mesrams with a portrait of Nagoba and shawl. They visited the shrine and performed special prayers.