Authorities are expecting around 20 lakh devotees to attend this year

Regarded as the most-visited temple Jatara after the one in Medaram in Jayashankar district of the State, the biennial Peddagattu Jatara of Lord Shiva’s incarnate – Lingamanthula Swamy, started off with the procession of ‘Devarapette’ on the Magha Purnima (full moon) night here on Sunday.

The divine box ‘Devarapette’ that houses the Yadava deities Lingamanthula swamy, goddess Chowdamma and others, moved from the custodians of the Kesaram village this time.

Sounding the bugle and amid drum beats, village elders, along with Minister for Education G. Jagadish Reddy and Rajya Sabha MP B. Lingaiah Yadav, who shouldered the box, moved it atop the hill.

Fulfilling vows

Nearly 30,000 devotees from in and around Suryapet fulfilled their vows on Sunday and women too completed the ‘basket pradakshina’ on the first day. According to belief, the three pradakshinas with baskets decorated with turmeric, kumkum and flowers, and filled with rice, milk, ghee, coconut, lemon and an empty earthen pot, is for the Lord, seeking protection of one’s livestock.

“The pot filled with bonam is offered on the second day, followed by the celestial wedding ‘Chandrapatnam’ on the third, and vratam and celebrations bring the jatara to an end,” temple executive officer K. Kushalaiah said.

According to him, a devotee footfall of nearly 20 lakh, from the Telugu and southern States, neighbouring Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, is expected this year. And with ₹1.7 crore allotted by the State government, sufficient amenities have been built. The five-day event, besides prayers for the deities, showcases the culture, and through games, folk art, food, rare vocations and numerous stalls selling souvenirs, reminds the daily lives of the country side.

District Collector D. Amoy Kumar and Superintendent of Police R. Venkateswarlu said elaborate arrangements concerning devotee safety and experience are in place. “Preparations have been on for the past one month. As many as 1,200 policemen and an additional 46 CCTVs monitored through a command control centre are keeping vigil of the entire place,” they said.

Local legislator Mr. Jagadish Reddy was enthusiastic about the jatara, beating the drum along with colleagues Kodad MLA Bollam Mallaiah Yadav and MP Lingaiah Yadav.

“The jatara remained nearly unknown before 2014. Only under the TRS, the Lingamanthula Jatara or Gollagattu Jatara got allocations and recognition,” he said. Along with officials and leaders, he offered special prayers, and marking the jatara events he released the book, Peddagattu (Gollagattu) Jatara Charitra.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News>States > Telangana / by Staff Reporter / Durajpally, Suriyapet – February 26th, 2019

People from Maharashtra have always had a strong bond with Hyderabad city.

Hyderabad :

People from Maharashtra have always had a strong bond with Hyderabad city. A significant portion of the state was part of the erstwhile Hyderabad state, and over centuries many people from these areas had migrated to Hyderabad in search of livelihood. The Kacheguda and Sultan Bazar area of the city still has a large number of Marathis, many of whom are third generation residents of the city.

However, it is surprising that there are very few places serving Maharashtrian food in twin cities. There was a Marathi mess at Kachiguda offering meals but it had closed down a few years ago. To fill in this void, Marathi Katta, a 20-seater restaurant offering traditional Marathi food has opened at Bade Chowdi, Ramkote just about a year back. The restaurant is a brainchild of Vishal Phadke and Ambarish Lahankar, whose families had migrated to Hyderabad years ago from Ratnagiri and Marathwada respectively.

They realized that basic Marathi dishes like misal pav, sabudana vada and sabudana khichdi are not available anywhere in the city, and decided to set up a place offering basic Marathi food. The restaurant is located inside a lane at Bade Chowdi, one of the trading centres of the city. While Ambarish’s wife takes care of the kitchen, Vishal looks after the service, and Ambarish concentrates of publicity and marketing. Over time, the menu was expanded to include a large number of Maharashtrian delicacies are available here like Poha, Vada Pav, and Kanda Bhaji.

The typical masalas are brought from different places in Maharashtra. To give an example the Misal Pav masala is brought from Kolhapur. Ambarish mentioned that the recipe of Misal Pav differs from place to place, for example in Pune it is slightly sweet while in Kolhapur it is very spicy. Thalipeeth, the signature delicacy prepared from jowar, wheat flour and besan is another popular dish here which can be savoured with curd or chutney. Pitla Bhakri, the combination of jowar roti and besan ki sabji is a good choice for lunch. On weekends delicacies like Varlela Wangi (stuffed eggplants), Nagpur style Dal Chawal with a typical garlic flavour, and Katachi Amti, a rasam like sweetish dish from Western Marathwada are available. If you wish to taste the Maharashtra style Khichdi you need to drop in on Wednesday.

The desserts include Shrikhand and Puran Poli as well as Aamrakhand during the mango season. In the initial days, the restaurant used to attract mostly Marathis, but Ambarish proudly states that now a significant portion of their customers are from other states. They do put up stalls in various government fairs in the city, and the publicity from these have resulted in people coming from distant areas in the weekend to try out their Marathi food. Ingredients are sometimes a concern, Vishal rues the fact that the quality of pavs available in Hyderabad is not as good as Mumbai. The plans for the future include the introduction of many more dishes as the Maharashtrian cuisine is really vast with variations in every region of the state. Also, since many first-generation migrants for Maharashtra are based in the IT corridor, a branch of the restaurant is planned in Cyberabad in not too distant future.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Sabyasachi Roy Chaudhuri / Express News Service / February 16th, 2019

‘Orugallu to Warangal’ is a keen and enthusiastic documentation by Lakshmi Prabhala and Sadhana Ramchander

It was in 2006 when Lakshmi Prabhala, then an IT employee commented on a blog posted by Sadhana Ramchander that led to an unexpected friendship. Lakshmi recalls, “It was a post on Bathukamma, about which not much was known then. I asked her if I could tag along with her on her future visits and that’s how we became acquainted with each other.” The association became professional with the release of their book on Hyderabad (Hyd and Seek) in 2015. The duo have recently finished their second book, Orugallu to Warangal: Journeys across Time, which pays an ode to the city and captures succinctly, its rich history, architecture, customs and festivals.

While Sadhana was born and educated in Warangal,, Lakshmi took only one prior trip to the city. Sadhana says, “I’ve lived there for 18 years but at that age you want to see the world. You don’t want to see the world around you. On our school excursions, we went to Ramappa Temple or the Pakhal lake. This book is a discovery even for someone who grew up there.”

The twosome made around 12 trips over the past three years to document the city and the labour of their love is a rich layered book, with spell binding photographs and a thorough documentation of the city and its rich heritage. The idea to document Warangal, Sadhana says came from tourist booklets found in cities abroad. “When you travel, even small cities have dedicated books which present them so beautifully. In India, we are bursting at the seams with history and information but lack the skill to package it well.” she smiles. Lakshmi adds, “Telangana is still a new state and there is a lot of curiosity about it. This is our contribution to India’s youngest state. The fact that there is no book on Warangal added to the interest.”

The duo worked intermittently on the project, juggling it with their professions (Lakshmi is a popular photographer/writer in the city while Sadhana has been running her own publishing support service for 25 years now) writing and shooting pictures for the book. Both the writers are full of stories of Warangal and their travels. Lakshmi says, “The thrill of discovery was exhilarating. The Devuni Gutta temple near Warangal was a miniature Angkor Wat Temple with carvings from the 6th century. I was astounded when I saw it. There were some similarities with Hyderabad too — the landscapes, the rocks and lakes.” Sadhana says that these places were off the track which made their journeys exciting, “Pandavula Guttalu, was a great discovery. In fact, it came to light only in 2006-07 and is full of rocks, caves and pre-historic paintings. The Lakhnavaram forests were full of Naxals, so a lot of these places didn’t see any visitors for decades. Even my relatives and friends who grew up in Warangal were stunned at our finds.”

The book details many visual and performing arts which are still a part of day to day life in the villages surrounding Warangal. From Perini Tandavam (a Kakatiyan era temple dance form), Mandhechu Kathalu (storytelling) to Oggudolu (an energetic folk worship form), the book captures the images and the stories of these art forms succinctly. Lakshmi exclaims, “I got to see so many different facets of the city. For example, I never knew Chindu Yakshagaanam was prevalent in Telangana as I had only read about it being performed in Karnataka. It’s a unique system in which one community depends on the other. Artistes who are patronised by a particular community perform for the entire night for a week for them. It was a surreal experience – away from the technological marvels of the 21st century.”

Climbing hills with strangers, travelling endlessly and taking innumerable notes/images were a part and parcel of their journey. For Sadhana whose mother, Jaya Rao wrote a chapter (Warangal: Then and Now), it was a homecoming of sorts. She adds, “My 83-year old mother was excited about her journeys. She is Warangal’s first woman lawyer and went to the city as a young bride. So, she would add her recollections of the places and was overjoyed when we found new things.” Like in any collaboration, the duo had their share of disagreements. They went through 15 covers and finally decided on a collage as they felt no one picture could capture the essence of the book . Dexterous weaving in the different facets of a city, this book easily juggles Warangal’s past with its present, its arts with its architecture and its festivals with its folklore making it a compendium of sorts, of one of Telangana’s oldest cities.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Books> Authors / by Mallik Thatipalli / February 12th, 2019