During this ritual, even a murder goes unnoticed

By M. Ahiraj

NERANAKI, (Kurnool dt.), OCT. 29. It is a typical case of ``baara khoon maaf'' (pardon despite committing murders) in the name of religion. People participating in the Guddada Mallayya fair on Vijayadashami Day swipe their lathis at each other. Many suffer bleeding injuries. A couple of them even get killed. All this happens in the presence of a large number of people and the police. Yet no case is booked or action taken against anybody.

This has been an annual feature where a large congregation gathers every year on the night of the last day of the Dasara festival, some of them to take part in the ritual and the rest to watch the gruesome show.

People from nearly 30 villages surrounding the temple at Alur in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh and also from Bellary and Sirguppa taluks in Karnataka, arrive with lathis studded with iron rings at one end, in lorries, cars, tractors, two-wheelers, and other modes of transport.

At midnight the ritual starts when the presiding deity, ``Guddada Mallayya,'' is brought down from the temple, located on a rocky hillock in a forest. Lathi-wielding ``devotees'' start taking a swipe at anybody in sight. This ritual is held in two phases -- while the deity is taken out from the temple and again on its return -- with an interval.

Several devotees suffer bleeding injuries on the head and other parts of the body. At times, the blows prove fatal. Strangely enough, attack and counter-attack among the devotees occur very much in the presence of police officials. Yet no case is booked against anybody.

According to unconfirmed reports, on Vijayadashami Day this year, two persons died and the condition of two injured, including a circle inspector of police, is serious. About 100 suffered bleeding head injuries, according to the record maintained by the health officials. Only grievous injuries, where sutures are necessary, are taken into account. A 15-member team comprising doctors and para-medical staff attended to the injured.

``None of the injured lodges a complaint. Against whom should we book the case?,'' a senior police official on duty pointed out when asked why suo motu cases were not being booked. ``On our part we have banned carrying lathis studded with iron rings. Lathis are seized at the police checkposts en route to the venue. Yet the devotees manage to bring them in stealthily,'' he said.

The history of the ritual is not known. ``Such a ritual has been in vogue for generations,'' is all the village elders say.

Though the practice involves defending the right to carry the deity during the festival, gradually the occasion is being used to settle scores. For, no case is registered on this particular day.

The festival at the temple begins on ``panchami'' after the ``amavasya'' when god Mallayya is ``engaged'' to Mallamma. The marriage is performed on Vijayadasami Day.

On the last day of Dasara, the deity is carried by a person, who observes fast for five nights. The lathi-wielding devotees also accompany the deity. People of Neranaki village guard the deity from being taken away by the people of other villages, especially those of Yellarthi and Arakeri.

The deity is taken to Mulgandi, Padalgatti, and Rakshapade before being returned to the temple at about 4.30 a.m.. The ritual (wielding of lathis) continues till the deity is taken to a place at the bottom of the hillock. On reaching the spot, the ritual comes to an end and as the day dawns, the area is bereft of any sign of the queer happenings of the previous night.

Devotees then perform puja by offering coconuts and ``bhandar'' (turmeric powder). They purchase sweets and other eatables, tie them up in a towel and hang them to their lathis before returning to their villages.

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Section  : Southern States
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