Every year, in the winter months of December/January, the Mesram clan of Raj Gonds and Pardhan Adivasis in the North of Telangana State make preparations for their most important religious and cultural festival, the Keslapur-Nagoba Jatara. The event is unique as it serves as a link between the present and the past, where customs and traditions that centuries old survive even today, underscoring the importance of solidarity within their community.
Very little has changed in the ritualistic aspects of this festival for centuries as pilgrims still walk barefoot through the hilly forest countryside to fetch holy water from a river bank and arrive at Keslapur in bullock carts carrying food and essentials for the duration of the 5 day event.
Just before the start of the sacred lunar month of poos (Pushya masam) which coincides with the calendar months of December or January, a handful of Mesram elders deliberate on the schedule for the month long fest, at the quaint and nondescript village of Keslapur in Indervelli mandal of Adilabad district. The discussions take place at the Pen thana (the resting place of the God) revolve mainly around the dates of important rituals and rites to be performed.
Nagoba, the serpent god Sheshnag, also known as Sri Shek is the clan-god of the Buiguita branch of the Mesram Raj Gonds and Pardhans. He is considered to be the mul-purush or progenitor of the clan. Mesram Manohar, a Pardhan elder who has been visiting Nagoba festival every year since 1976 when he was only nine explains, “The Nagoba festival ensures that all the Mesram clan members are at Keslapur at least once every year which strengthens the ties within the community”. Around 2,500 Mesram families attend the jatara every year, with some of them coming from across the borders with the neighbouring state of Maharashtra.
Legend has it that Nagoba had come down to Keslapur, to punish king Padiyor for his misdemeanours, but was appeased after the Mesram Raj Gonds offered him naivedyam of seven varieties. The annual festival of Nagoba Jatara revolves around this fable with rituals involving prayers to and pacification of the serpent God.
Once the schedule is fixed, a two member team comprising of Mesram Hanmanth Rao, the clan katoda (chief priest) and the chief of Pardhans (bards), Mesram Tukdoji, set out on a 10 day journey covering villages within a radius of 25 to 30 km of Keslapur. The journey in a two seater bullock cart called chakda first takes them to Sirikonda where they place an order for 120 earthen pots and lamps that are to be used during various rituals of the festival. The Guggilla potter family has been making the earthenware for the Mesrams since centuries. The duo later visit the 22 families in the clan, which have a major role to play in organising the jatara, and inform them about the schedule. Despite the availability of modern-day conveniences like motorised vehicles and cellphones, they diligently follow the traditional rituals by travelling on a bullock cart and personally invite families for the festival
Once the elders return, another meeting takes place to discuss the stopovers during the 15 day barefoot journey of the pilgrims who will set out to fetch gangajal (holy water) from river Godavari. Also, the names of those who wish to undertake this journey to Hastinamadugu near Kalamadugu village in Jannaram mandal, now in Mancherial distirct, are registered.
The 90 km route, takes pilgrims clad in white, walking in a line through jungles across hillocks and valleys, to the sacred spot at the river bed since this ritualistic event originated. The sacred brass vessel to hold gangajal called jhari, said to be 1,400 years old, was carried by the Hanmanth Rao (in 2018) while the pilgrims were led by Tukdoji in their walkathon.
About walking in a single file, Mesram Tirupathi, the kotwal for the festival explains thus, “We walk in a single line, trailing through forests and difficult paths mimicking the movement of a snake. We also ensure no man or animal crosses our path as it could prove inauspicious for our Patels (village heads). In the legend, the Pardhan (bard) is mainly responsible for pacifying Nagoba and hence he always leads us.”
On Jan 8th 2018, the devotees reached Hastinamadugu at daybreak, and after quickly brushing with a daatun (neem twig) huddled together to take a dip in the cold waters of Godavari while chanting in chorus “Jai Nagoba! Jai Nagoba!” A community lunch was prepared from the offerings of food grains like jowar, lentils and rice flour that each of the devotees had brought. The pilgrims began their return journey the same day and head to Gowri Gonduguda, the native village of Hanmanth Rao.
While most pilgrims dispersed, Hanmanth Rao was joined by his family and a few devotees as they proceeded to Indrai temple at Indervelli. After performing pooja here, they made their way to Bhourmachua or the sacred banyan tree outside Keslapur to camp there until the day of mahapuja (on Jan 16th 2018). All this while, due care is taken to sling the jhari from branches of trees when the pilgrims are resting as keeping it on the ground is an anathema.
The following night the Patels (village elders) arrive under the banyan tree to a ceremonial welcome by Pardhan musicians. The Patels light the sacred torches of the torch-bearers and these remain lit during the entire course of the Nagoba jatara. The flickering light from the torches illuminate their path through the darkness and is a part of all the rituals. Only after the Patels have set up their camps, ordinary Mesram families from various corners of the tribal heartland start joining them under the banyan tree.
The camp under Bhourmachua consists of temporary dwellings hinging around the carts around which all items necessary for the four day stay are arranged. The women set aside groups of sacred baskets containing naivedyam in a separate area. The days are filled with children’s fun and frolic, women busy preparing meals or carrying water, while the men discuss important matters relevant to the community.
The nights, however are reserved for recitals of Nagoba Bhidi, the legend of the serpent god, by Pardhan bards as their audiences gather around camp fires, and flickering flames offering them much needed warmth, all together creating a mystical aura.
On the morning of Jan 16th 2018, the Mesram men dressed in spotless white and women covering their heads with a white cotton scarf made their way into the Nagoba temple in a ceremonial procession. The head priest carried the sacred jhari into the temple and slung it from a branch of a small tree close to the where the earthen pots were arranged.
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