Context:
Recently, the annual festival Gangamma Jatara was celebrated in Tripura, Andhra Pradesh.
About Ganga Jatara
- It is a seven-day festival starting from May 14 to May 22 this year, postponed by a week due to Assembly and general elections.
- It is an annual festival that begins with the “Chatimpu”- which is a traditional announcement accompanied by the beating of the drums.
- Visiting the temple by smearing chalk, sandal, kumkum, and charcoal paste all over the body is a regular practice during the festival.
- Women carrying the statuettes of ‘Nava Durgas’ accompanied the entourage during the festival.
- The folk festival is meant to appease the ‘Grama Devatha’ (village deity).
About Gangamma
- Sri Tataiahgunta Gangamma/Sri Tathaya Gunta Gangamma is the Grama devatha (Village Goddess) of Tirupati town.
- She is believed to be the sister of Lord Venkateswara and worshipped as a symbol of ‘woman power’.
- Deity is believed to hail from Avilala village, the elders of the village brought the “Saarey”, a collection of turmeric, bangles, sari, and other auspicious articles in a procession to the Tataiahgunta Gangamma temple.
- Thathayagunta, the tank on which the temple is now located, got its name from a Vaishnavite devotee called ‘Tirumala Thathacharyulu’ who is said to have consecrated the deity in the 16th century.