Basavanagudi Groundnut Fair,
Bengaluru
The Kadalekai Parishe is the
annual two-day carnival of groundnuts which is celebrated in the Silicon Valley
of India, Bengaluru. It is noteworthy to mention that, the dynamic city of
Bengaluru is also possessing its old day charm in some of its nuclear
localities like Basavanagudi, Malleshwaram, Chikkapette and Sheshadripuram.
According to legends, the celebration
has been acclaimed from the year 1537 CE when Kempegowda, the founder of the
city constructed a sanctum sanctorum built exclusively for the bull God, Basava
or Nandi on a hillock of this Deccan Plateau’s Southern City. The temple is
known and recollected as Dodda Basavanna Gudi which in elucidation implies Big
Bull Temple. The locality where this temple is situated is also called as
Basavanagudi, literally the bull temple. The groundnut festival attracts a
large number of visitors from the various localities of Bengaluru. The farmers,
traders and visitors also come from the various other parts of Karnataka like
Mysuru, Mandya, Hassan, Chikkaballapura, Chamarajanagara, Tumakuru. Like any
other festival of Bengaluru, the groundnut fair also paves a way for a
livelihood for people from the neighboring states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra
Pradesh. Hundreds of farmers from the districts of Chittoor, Vellore and
Krishnagiri visit Basavanagudi during the Karthiga month to celebrate the week
long Kadlekai Parishe.
To Tame The Rampaging Bull!
Basavangudi is geographically bound by
various other localities like Sunkenahalli, Guttahalli, Mavalli, Dasarahalli
and a few others where groundnut was cultivated in plenty. The farmers unswervingly
met issues with a rampaging bull which would venture into their fields on each
full moon day. With no other choice left, the farmers appealed to the bull God,
Nandi or Basava to deliver a conclusion to the maceration and promised that
they would offer their first harvest to the God, as a token of gratitude. It is
said that the farmers found an idol of Nandi in a farmland and started offering
prayers to it; the villagers have also noticed that the idol began to grow
rapidly and had to nail an iron peg on its head to control its growth, which
still can be seen in the form a trident.
Holding fast to their statement, the
farmers offered their first respect the divinity in an extremely great way
which soon advanced into a tremendous fair. It is trusted that Nandi would
restore the day after the festival, as a bull and eat the groundnuts bought in
to the fair. Along these lines the carnival took its introduction to the world
which features the genuine soul and culture of the city. The Karthika month of
South Indian lunar calendar, invites umpteen number of farmers, traders and
individuals who come in huge numbers to sell and buy groundnuts and the other
value added products of groundnuts like Chikkis, Assorted peanuts etc.
One can discover groundnuts here
in every conceivable shape and sizes; while some are sold raw, there are
different forms too by which groundnuts are sold to the buyers. The whole area
encompassing the temple adores a celebration look amid the two day fair and is
thronged by a substantial number of individuals from varying backgrounds. What
began as only a ceremonial offering of groundnuts to Nandi has now changed into
an immense celebration which offers groundnuts as well as numerous different
items that one would go over in a typical temple festival of Karnataka or any
other State of the plateau.
Located adjacent to the Bull temple, is
the Dodda Ganapathi temple. The sacred place houses a monolithic statue of
Ganapathi, which is said to have developed to its present size and which
measures 18 ft in stature and 16 ft in width. Amid the Kadalekai Parishe, the idol
of the God, is enriched with butter which invites a large number of devotees to
the fair grounds.
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