(This month, each day, except the four Sundays, I will be blogging about interesting features associated with Bengaluru, formerly known as Bangalore, as part of the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge)
Celebrated with pomp and enthusiasm on the full moon day in March-April, it commemorates the annual return of Draupadi (one of the central characters in the Indian epic Mahabharata) to visit her warrior sons.
Though originally it began as a festival of the Tigala community (of gardeners), today it cuts across all sects.
THE PROCESSION
One of the main elements is the procession in which the priest balances the floral pyramid atop the Karaga (an earthen pot), the contents of which is believed to have divine powers. The centre of the festival is the Dharmaraya Swamy temple at Tigalarapete, one of four shrines in the city dedicated to Draupadi and Pandavas.
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| Dharmaraya Swamy Temple. Image credit: Wikipedia |
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| The priest carrying the Karaga. Image credit: The News Minute |
There are Karaga festivals in other towns but the one in Dharmaraya Swamy temple (also knowns as Bangalore Karaga) is the most popular. The procession passes through various parts of the area where large crowds of people worship the Karaga.
COVID SHADOW
Last year, for the first time living memory, the Karaga celebration -- which normally sees hundreds of thousands of people take part -- was curtailed to a few rituals within the temple with just 13 people in attendance.
It's not going to be any different this time, with the country and more specifically Bengaluru seeing a huge spike in the number of people testing positive.
(Tomorrow, we head to one of the most popular and historical gardens in Bengaluru.)
REFERENCES
Bengaluru’s Karaga Festival: Folk Origins and Rituals, by Roshini Muralidhara
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteso many events the world over deeply affected by the health crisis... taking the colour out of life... YAM xx
Hi Yamini - Yes. Such a dampner!
DeleteFascinating When I first saw the title (before reading your blog post) I thought you were writing about "karakattam", an ancient folk dance of Tamil Nadu. After reading, now I know this is a different karaga.
ReplyDeleteSad that COVID put a damper on this, but it'll bounce back when all this is over :)
ReplyDeleteThanks.This is something new to me.
ReplyDeleteHi KP - Thank you. I believe it's celebrated in Tamil Nadu as well, but in some other format. Not quite sure.
DeleteIt's been the same here in Italy. So many festivals were cancelled.
ReplyDeleteI think this is one of the hardest things to brave: being unable to celebrate together.
But I have hopes that next year things will start to be a bit more normal again.
Take care!
Hi JazzFeathers - Challenging times. It might take a while, but we will be out of the tunnel before long.
DeleteSuch an interesting festival.
ReplyDeleteDidn't know of this.
Great that such cultural events continue even after centuries.
Hi Anita - Yes, indeed. So much of cultural heritage!
DeleteTigala community (of gardeners) caught my eye. Will research about them once this challenge is over.
ReplyDeleteCovid numbers are on the up in India. Stay safe Pradeep.
Hi Arti - It's interesting that such a community has kept alive a tradition which now has broken all social barriers.
DeleteO, yes. the progress of Covid is looking really scary. With no controls on movement or gathering of people, we will see very hard days ahead.
Hi Pradeep - so interesting ... but I certainly need to spend time understanding India, and its states and all the traditions and cultural aspects of the continent. Thanks though for highlighting some of them ... all the best - Hilary
ReplyDeleteSix months of training! Wow. That's amazing. I'm sorry the pandemic has curtailed these long held traditions.
ReplyDeleteHi Darla - Yes, quite a strict regimen. Covid has been a dampner in every way!
DeleteI was under the impression that Karaga was a Tamilnadu festival. Your blog was revealing to that extent.Yes, all forms of celebrations are adversely affected by the pandemic.
ReplyDeleteHi Rajeev - I presume there are versions of Karaga in Tamil Nadu, and other parts of Karnataka too.
DeleteLooks like it's a great honor for the carrier to be chosen. 6 months of training sounds very serious too.
ReplyDeleteHave not heard of this temple or festival before....quite interesting...enjoyed the read
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Hi Jayashree - Thank you.
DeleteFeels so good to hear about my home town. Though I have not participated in this festival, I do know about it.
ReplyDeleteCheers!
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Hi Meena - Thank you for stopping by and for the comments. :-)
DeleteThis looks and sounds so colourful, hope you get to celebrate it again soon!
ReplyDeletehttps://iainkellywriting.com/2021/04/13/the-state-trilogy-a-z-guide-k/
I am particularly glad to have found you. I like your Country very much.
ReplyDeleteHi Katie - Thank you :-)
DeleteThe temple is an amazing architectural structure. Sad though wise for them to curtail the festivities during a spike in covid. Pleasant memories of past events and plans for the future must sustain all of us for now.
ReplyDeletehttps://gail-baugniet.blogspot.com/
Hi Gail - Thanks for stopping by. Hard times, but we will ride it out.
DeleteWhat an interesting post about a fascinating festival. The floral pyramid is amazing. Hopefully safety will reign for now and celebrations can resume later.
ReplyDeleteHi Deborah - Yes, that's the hope. And we will get there.
DeleteThis seems to be a wonderful festival. So unique and different. Love the floral headgear on the carrier's head. Can imagine the kind of training needed to take up the responsible role.
ReplyDeleteIf only this virus left us alone... :(
Hi Srivalli - A very unique festival, that's being kept alive with so much gusto today.
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