Rayalaseema celebrates Dasara with fervour at Grama Devata shrines
Rayalaseema is celebrating the Dasara festival with a focus on local Grama Devata shrines rather than traditional processions. The festivities include unique rituals like fire-walking, buffalo processions, and Vedic chanting across various districts.
Why it matters
The report highlights the cultural diversity of regional religious practices in India, emphasizing the importance of local traditions over standardized festival formats.
Dasara in Rayalaseema is not about Mysore-style elephants but about Grama Devata jatara celebrations. This year, Chittoor, Annamayya and Sri Sathya Sai districts are witnessing a surge of Shakti worship.
The centrepiece of Dasara celebrations is Boyakonda Gangamma Thalli temple in Chowdepalle mandal of Punganur Assembly constituency, straddling the Chittoor-Annamayya district boundary, a few kilometres from the Karnataka border.
Considered the biggest Dasara event in the erstwhile combined Chittoor district, the temple celebrates the festival with the self-manifested deity adorned in nine different forms over nine days, including Bala, Gayatri, Annapurna, Saraswati and Mahishasuramardini. On Moola Nakshatra, about three lakh devotees offer bonams and sacrifice livestock.
Devotees from families across the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu borders believe that Boyakonda Gangamma is the sibling of Goddess Kolaramma in Kolar and Pallikonda Gangamma in Vellore. Traditional celebrations include Pothuraju dances and fire-walking rituals.
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