karaga festival
yesterday it was karaga festival which is one of the oldest festival of karnataka which involves both hindus and muslims. Karaga is the festival of tigaLas who are tamil speaking community. they The Tigalas, who hold Draupadi as their principal deity, believe that Draupadi Shakti (power) brims over during the Karaga festival.
preparations for the karaga festival start 15 days before chaitra poornima by hoisting temple flag on bank of sampangi tank.Special poojas are held on the sixth day, invoking Draupadi. On the seventh., the hasi karaga (the karaga not sanctified) is formally brought from a salt water pond nearby. This ritual has to with the legend of a karaga carrier who once stood in a tank waist-high in water. He was in deep meditation when he felt the weight of an object in his hand. He carried it to the Sampangi tank and then to the Dharmaraya temple where he placed it next to the deity dharmaraya.
The Veerakumaras are recruited from the Tigala community three days before the festival. The chosen ones have to take deeksha from the temple and remain pure and chaste till the Karaga is over. On the ninth day, the temple premises are ablaze with a fire-walking ritual. The Veerakumaras, bearing their swords and ritually clad in dhotis, hit the drawn blades against their bare chests even as they dance in frenzy around the bed of live coals before running over them. It is believed that it is at this moment that the sanctified and decorated karaga automatically positions itself on the head of the carrier, who is in seclusion .As soon as these preliminary festivities start, the karaga bearer confines himself to the temple premises, undertaking several preparatory rituals. He takes his bath at nine wells identified for the purpose and is on a diet of just milk and fruits. His arrival at the temple itself is ceremonious, when he is taken in a procession. As soon as he leaves home, his wife assumes the role of a widow, and it is her husband who is wearing her thali. She is not to set her eyes upon him until after the festival, after which the couple are reunited in marriage.
The Karaga route begins at the Dharmarayaswamy temple and snakes through the Old City via Cubbonpet, Ganigarapet, Avenue Road, Dodderpet, Akkipet, Balepet, Kilari Road, Nagarathpet and surrounding areas. The karaga carrier, now in his temporary avatar as Draupadi, goes to the houses of the Veerakumaras where their families perform pooja to the karaga. Before the procession returns to the main temple, it halts at the Dargah-e-Sharif of Hazrat Tawkal Mastan, the 18th century Muslim saint. The story goes that Mastan, on hearing that the karaga was coming, rushed to meet it, but fell down and hurt himself grievously. When the priests revived him by applying kumkum on his injuries, they healed instantly. An ecstatic Mastan invoked Draupadi's name and prayed that after his death the procession should halt at his dargah.
For the Karaga carrier, the swords have a menacing significance because by tradition they are supposed to stab the Karanga carrier if he loses balance and falls. Fortunately, this has never happened in the long history of this festival.
preparations for the karaga festival start 15 days before chaitra poornima by hoisting temple flag on bank of sampangi tank.Special poojas are held on the sixth day, invoking Draupadi. On the seventh., the hasi karaga (the karaga not sanctified) is formally brought from a salt water pond nearby. This ritual has to with the legend of a karaga carrier who once stood in a tank waist-high in water. He was in deep meditation when he felt the weight of an object in his hand. He carried it to the Sampangi tank and then to the Dharmaraya temple where he placed it next to the deity dharmaraya.
The Veerakumaras are recruited from the Tigala community three days before the festival. The chosen ones have to take deeksha from the temple and remain pure and chaste till the Karaga is over. On the ninth day, the temple premises are ablaze with a fire-walking ritual. The Veerakumaras, bearing their swords and ritually clad in dhotis, hit the drawn blades against their bare chests even as they dance in frenzy around the bed of live coals before running over them. It is believed that it is at this moment that the sanctified and decorated karaga automatically positions itself on the head of the carrier, who is in seclusion .As soon as these preliminary festivities start, the karaga bearer confines himself to the temple premises, undertaking several preparatory rituals. He takes his bath at nine wells identified for the purpose and is on a diet of just milk and fruits. His arrival at the temple itself is ceremonious, when he is taken in a procession. As soon as he leaves home, his wife assumes the role of a widow, and it is her husband who is wearing her thali. She is not to set her eyes upon him until after the festival, after which the couple are reunited in marriage.
The Karaga route begins at the Dharmarayaswamy temple and snakes through the Old City via Cubbonpet, Ganigarapet, Avenue Road, Dodderpet, Akkipet, Balepet, Kilari Road, Nagarathpet and surrounding areas. The karaga carrier, now in his temporary avatar as Draupadi, goes to the houses of the Veerakumaras where their families perform pooja to the karaga. Before the procession returns to the main temple, it halts at the Dargah-e-Sharif of Hazrat Tawkal Mastan, the 18th century Muslim saint. The story goes that Mastan, on hearing that the karaga was coming, rushed to meet it, but fell down and hurt himself grievously. When the priests revived him by applying kumkum on his injuries, they healed instantly. An ecstatic Mastan invoked Draupadi's name and prayed that after his death the procession should halt at his dargah.
For the Karaga carrier, the swords have a menacing significance because by tradition they are supposed to stab the Karanga carrier if he loses balance and falls. Fortunately, this has never happened in the long history of this festival.
posted by ಅನೂಜ್ಞಾ at
8:46 PM
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