Fierce faith amidst frantic fray of Banni festival at Devaragattu temple in Kurnool district of A.P.

Come Dasara, all eyes would be on Devaragattu, a quaint village on the Andhra-Karnataka border where thousands of devotees gather to participate in ‘Karrala Samaram’, which leaves many injured, some even fatally. This year, however, for the first time, the police and district administration have made special efforts and ensured that there are no deaths during the fest, writes Hareesh P

On October 12, at midnight, the first ‘outu’, a rocket firecracker, was lit in the Neraniki village, four kilometres from hilltop Devaragattu temple, the abode of Mala Malleswara Swamy, in Kurnool district on the Andhra Pradesh-Karnataka border.

Upon noticing the signal, a frantic fervour takes over the thousands gathered at the foothill. As soon as the sound of five ‘outus’ echoed in the hills, like a swarm of bees, devotees emerged out of the shrubby forests with sticks and fire torches. With sandalwood paste smeared on their foreheads, they make their way straight to the temple atop the Devaragattu hills.

Within minutes, the 500-odd steps to the hilltop were occupied with people, the temple priest, walked down swiftly with the processional deities of Mala Malleswara Swamy and His consort, escorted by the villagers of Neraniki, Neraniki Tanda, and Kothapeta in a procession.

Nearly 50,000–60,000 devotees from the five South Indian States of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra gather downhill to wait for the procession’s arrival.

Blood-soaked beginning

The procession, or the Banni Jaitra Yatra, starts once the idols are brought from the hill temple. “The idols would first be taken to the Mulla Banda, a place where the priest carrying the idol would be pierced in his leg with a thorn. The village barber would then remove the thorn. From there, the idols will be taken to Rakshasa Pada, where the Guravaiah, a traditional artisan, will pierce a needle in his calf muscle and offer five drops of blood as an offering to the demons whose Malleswara Swamy killed,’’ says Giri Mallaiah Swamy, the temple’s hereditary priest.

Commotion ensues as soon as the procession reaches the foothills when the stick-wielding villagers clear the path for the idols’ procession to pass through the jungle. This procession is called the Banni Jaitra Yatra.

The mayhem ends in bloodshed as people try to go near the processional idols and get hit by the sticks.

All this happens in front of the huge number of police officers who are posted there for security reasons.

The Banni festival, is part of the week-long Dasara festivities held in the village.

However, the stick fight, known as the ‘Karrala Samaram’, an integral part of the Banni festival, where devotees end up with bruises and sometimes see a fatal end, is what remains an intriguing and worrisome aspect.

In contrast, on ordinary days, Devaragattu remains a peaceful place where devotees visit the Mala Malleswara Swamy temple in small numbers. It is a three-hour drive from Kurnool, and the road gets bumpy from Aspari village in the Adoni revenue division of Kurnool district.

A temple of oneness

The temple is unique for it is where the ‘Swayambhu’ (self-manifested) Shivalingam is in the avatar of a tortoise, the Kurmavataram, which is also an avatar of Lord Vishnu, explains Mr. Swamy.

“The oneness of Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu is celebrated and preached at this temple. The two gods are not different. They are one and the same,’’ Mr. Swamy says.

According to the legend, two demons, Maniksarua and Mallasura, lived in the caves in the hills and caused trouble to hinder the penance performed by the great rishis on these hills.

It is said that the rishis then prayed to Lord Shiva and his consort, Goddess Parvati, who then took the form of Martanda Bhairavudu and Gargi Mallamma to come to their rescue. The divine couple descended on a blue horse to fight the demons.

It is said that Lord Shiva, accompanied by the locals, went to the caves with fire torches and weapons, fought the demons amidst thundering drum beats, and defeated them.

God takes demon’s name

The legend also says that the demons, after their defeat, sought two wishes from Lord Shiva—to prefix their names before His name, thus giving the deity the name of Mala Malleswara Swamy and a sacrifice of five humans as their food every year. While Lord Shiva granted the first wish, he denied the second and, instead, agreed to give the demons five drops of human blood.

“This is precisely what we are following till today. We celebrate the day of Lord Shiva’s victory over the evil demons on Vijaya Dasami Day, and the priest offers five drops of blood from his calf muscle to the demons, as per the Lord’s word,’’ says Mr. Swamy.

However, it is reported that many devotees too take it upon themselves to make the blood offering through the stick fight and believe that the sacrifice brings them good luck. Some even consider the bruises they receive during the stick fight to be God’s blessings.

The temple priest, on the other hand, vehemently denies that there is a violent nature to the ritual.

Villagers respond

“No one indulges in stick fights on the night of the Banni festival. It has been wrongly portrayed as a ‘fight’ and given undue importance. In fact, because of this propaganda, the historical prominence of the Devaragattu hill and the Dasara festivities, which celebrate the victory of good over evil and the oneness of Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu, have taken a back seat,’’ laments Mr. Swamy.

However, it is widely believed that the villagers of Neraniki, Neraniki Tanda, and Kothapeta indulge in an enactment fight with the people of seven adjacent villages who vie for the possession of the idols of deities. It is said that when this enactment using sticks attached with iron rings at the ends, gets out of control, the devotees end up hurting each other, causing bloodshed and even death.

Despite the videography and photographic pieces of evidence of the violence and media reports of death during this festival, it is noteworthy that not a single police case has been filed.

The locals too strongly deny that the `karrala samaram’ is “played” to stop the alleged attempt of people from seven villages to take control of the processional deities. “It is just a myth that we clash for the processional deities, and we do not clash with sticks and attack each other for the deities,” they say in unison.

The priest also stresses that the idols have been in their residence for generations and will continue to remain so.

Meanwhile, there are some who believe that the villagers are divided as Malleswara Swamy marries a girl from the Mala community belonging to the Scheduled Castes, and the villagers fight for the right to take the celestial couple to their village. However, the villagers and the temple priest dispel this claim.

“The torches are carried by the Chakali (Washermen community) of Neraniki, Neraniki Tanda and Kothapet village while the Guravaiah belongs to another caste and the priest is a Brahmin. People from all communities are part of the festival”Village elderNeraniki

The village elders say that people of all castes have specific roles to play in the festival. “The torches are carried by the Chakali (Washermen community) of Neraniki, Neraniki Tanda and Kothapet village while the Guravaiah belongs to another caste and the priest is a Brahmin. People from all communities are part of the festival,’’ a village elder claimed.

A Forest Department official, V. Vimal Kumar, who was posted on duty at Devragattu and who witnessed the `Karrela Samaram’ earlier, also adds that it was the aggressiveness and the manner in which the people of Neraniki, Neraniki Tanda and Kothapet protect the idols makes the event look like a battle. “In fact, no person from the other villages ever attempted to steal or take away the idols,’’ he added.

The police, however, say that people actually do not clash but the ritual ends up in bloodshed, and there were even instances where people have died, but there were no records of it.

Last year, a giant Neem tree fell as hundreds of people climbed it to watch the proceedings, and three persons died, but the locals did not even want the police to register a case under Section 174 (suspicious death), the officer said.

The priest says the devotees, especially those from the three villages of Neraniki, Neraniki Tanda, and Kothapeta, follow certain strict customs from a week before Dasara.

“The people of the three villages tie a `Kankanam’, a sacred thread around their wrists that denotes that the person is taking up an initiation. This ritual is called ‘Kankana Dharana’; the villagers do not consume liquor or meat during this period. They stay away from all vices till the festival concludes,” he says.

“While we participate in the procession of the idols following strict rules, there might be some people from outside these villages who come here after consuming alcohol to create a ruckus during the Banni festival. But we try to keep such people away from the idols,’’ he adds.

“Many believe that participating in the procession and touching the idols will bring them good luck. So, they try to touch the idols and get hurt by the sticks. But we don’t hit anyone intentionally,’’ says a villager from Neraniki.

The villagers also stress that the festival is conducted in a very pious manner, and the commotion or alleged clashes occur only for a few metres throughout the entire six-odd-kilometre stretch of the procession.

Elaborating on the rituals of the Banni festival, Mr. Swamy says that this year, the ‘Kankana Dharana’ was performed on October 7, and the idols were brought to the temple the same day. On October 12, Kalyanotsavam, the celestial marriage of Lord Shiva and His Consort, was performed in the morning, and Banni Jaitra Yatra was held in the night.

Most-awaited fortune-telling

By the time this entire ritual is completed, it will be morning, and the village priest will perform the `Daiva Karnikam’ or fortune telling at the Basavanna temple in Devaragattu.

The ‘Daiva Karnikam’ assumes prominence as the priest predicts the rainfall in the region and suggests crops to be sown in their villages. Many who believe in the priest’s prediction come from far-off places to witness the event.

The festivities ended on October 16, with the idols being taken back to the Neraniki village priest’s house, where they will be kept until next year.

Raising awareness

“The Banni Jaitra Yatra should, in fact, be named as ‘Sambaram’ (translates to celebration) rather than ‘Samaram’ (translates to battle). The villagers should shun some customs that cause bloodshed”G. Bindhu MadhavKurnool District Superintendent of Police

Kurnool District Superintendent of Police G. Bindhu Madhav concurred with the local’s version that it is not a fight for idols. “The Banni Jaitra Yatra should, in fact, be named as ‘Sambaram’ (translates to celebration) rather than ‘Samaram’ (translates to battle). The villagers should shun some customs that cause bloodshed,’’ he tells The Hindu.

Mr. Madhav said the police seized the sticks from the villages well ahead of the festival day this year. They, however, managed to sneak them in. “The villagers rotate them and make their way ahead during the procession. Those who are alert will bend or keep away from the stick, but those who fail get hurt,’’ he says, adding that policemen, too, get injured sometimes. Police have counselled the villagers to use plastic sticks instead of wood, but in vain.

According to a villager, Mallanna from Neraniki, on Banni Day, they hide the sticks in the hills and forest well ahead and grab them when they come to the temple.

People science organisations like Jana Vignana Vedika (JVV) also made efforts to change the way the festival is celebrated but were unsuccessful. JVV State president B. Suresh said they work in the areas of education, health, eradication of superstitions, and environmental issues among the people.

Mr. Suresh said the district administration and police had made adequate arrangements to ensure that there were no fatalities even though lakhs of people attended the festival this year.

This year, 30 persons suffered injuries in the stick fight, while another 30 got injured in other mishaps and stampedes. Counselling the villagers and suggesting alternate measures like using plastic sticks and others have not yielded the desired results, say the police. However, for the first time in decades, not a single death was reported during the festival.

The police officials who monitored Banni closely, using drones and CCTV surveillance, have managed to significantly reduce the amount of violence at the festival this year. They also express hope that, with time, the villagers will gain more awareness and modify their rituals to celebrate the festival in a more peaceful and nonviolent way.

Published - October 25, 2024 08:18 am IST