Bengaluru Karaga Festival 2022 Dates, Origin, Tradition, Rituals, History And Significance

Karaga festival is also known as Karaga Jatre and is celebrated annually in the Chaitra month (which is basically March or April) of the Hindu Calendar in Karnataka, especially by people belonging to the Tigala community. It is a periodic festival to honour a deity.

This is one of the oldest festivals in Karnataka and if you turn the pages of mythological texts like Mahabharata, you can find its roots there. The grand festival represents the history, tradition and of Karnataka and therefore, people gather in huge numbers across the city to witness this event.

Bengaluru Karaga Festival 2022: Dates

The term 'Karaga' means an 'earthen pot' made from unbaked clay, which supports a floral pyramid and an idol of a Goddess. The festival honours Draupadi as the symbol of power and the ideal woman. The extravagant festival of Karaga began 300 years back and this year it will begin on 8 April and the grand procession will be carried out on 16 April.

Bengaluru Karaga Festival 2022: History and Origin

There is a religious belief that Tigalas are the descendants of Draupadi and were traditionally urban gardeners, horticulturists and lake settlers by occupation. This community is further divided into 3 sub-groups-

a. Vahnikula Kshatriyas - Tamil speaking people belonging to the lineage of Vanniyars or Vanniyans
b. Shambuka Kshtatriyas- Tamil speaking descendants of the sage Shambu who is said to have migrated from the neighbouring states
c. Agnikula Kshatriyas- Kannada speaking descendants of the folk hero Agni Banniraya, native to Karnataka

Bengaluru Karaga Festival 2022: Tradition, Puja Rituals

The Karaga festival is celebrated over 11 days and it highlights the rich and diverse culture of Karnataka. The religious vessel is carried over the head and one shall not touch it. The carrier wears a woman's attire, wears bangles, mangal sutra and vermillion on his forehead.

The grand festival is celebrated at the famous Dharmaraya Swamy Temple in Bangalore and apart from numerous rituals, a grand procession, which starts from the temple premises at midnight, is also organised to honour the Goddess on the full moon night. On the last day of the festival, devotees splash turmeric water on each other and put an end to the festivities. On the following day, the Karaga is immersed in the salt water pond from which it was brought.

Bengaluru Karaga Festival 2022: History And Significance

The Karaga festival is basically the celebration of nature and water. For the past two years, the Karaga festival was a low key affair, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it usually attracts lakhs of tourists from across the world.

One of the four temples in the city is dedicated to Draupadi and Pandavas, the Dharmaraya Swamy Temple (locally known as Dodda Dharmaraja devastana) in Tigalarapete is the primary centre for rituals of Karaga festivals. But, the rituals are also followed in the other three temples in the city such as Ekambareshwara Dharmaraja temple at Shivajinagar, Chikka Dharmaraja temple and Dharmaraja and Panchali temple at Kalasipalya. Also, the Pete (old/market town) Karaga, which is known as Bengaluru Karaga, is considered the primary civic ritual of the city, mentions the Karnataka Tourism website.

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