Festivals

Vinayaka Chavithi celebrates Lord Ganesha on Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturthi. Telugu homes worship a clay Ganesha with 21 kinds of leaves, read the Vinayaka Vratha Katha and offer undrallu, while Hyderabad's Khairatabad Ganesh draws lakhs.

Pitru Paksha – the fortnight of the ancestors – is the time when families remember and honour those who have gone before them with tarpanam, pinda pradanam and charity. It ends on Mahalaya Amavasya, the new moon dedicated to all ancestors, the day before Devi Navaratri begins.

Bathukamma, the state festival of Telangana, is a nine-day women's flower festival. Each evening women arrange seasonal flowers into towering Bathukammas, sing and dance in circles around them, and on Saddula Bathukamma lay them gently into the water.

Dasara, or Devi Navaratri, honours the Divine Mother over nine nights, ending in victory on Vijayadashami. At Vijayawada, Sri Kanaka Durga is adorned in a different alankaram each day; homes observe Saraswati puja, Ayudha puja and the Jammi puja.

Atla Taddi is a beloved festival of Telugu women and girls, kept for the well-being of their husbands and for a good marriage. They eat before dawn, fast through the day, play on swings and sing, and after moonrise worship Goddess Gauri with an offering of attlu.

The Komuravelli Mallanna Jatara is the long festive season of Sri Mallikarjuna Swamy – Mallanna – at Komuravelli in Siddipet district. After his kalyanam with Golla Kethamma and Medalamma in December, devotees throng the hill every Sunday from Sankranti to Ugadi, while Oggu pujaris draw the sacred patnam and sing the Lord's story.

The Nagoba Jatara at Keslapur in Adilabad is the sacred festival of the Mesram clan of the Gond and Pardhan communities, honouring Nagoba, the divine serpent and their supreme deity. It begins with a midnight Mahapuja using holy Godavari water brought on foot by the elders, and includes the Bheting ceremony that welcomes new brides into the clan.

Sirimanotsavam is the great festival of Sri Paidithalli Ammavaru, the guardian goddess of Vizianagaram. On the first Tuesday after Vijayadashami, the temple priest, borne at the tip of a tall wooden pole – the Sirimanu – is carried three times between the fort and the temple, as lakhs of devotees offer their prayers.

The Peddagattu (Gollagattu) Jatara at Durajpally near Suryapet is the great biennial festival of Sri Lingamanthula Swamy and his sister Choudamma, the family deities of the Golla (Yadava) community. For about five days, lakhs of devotees of every background gather on the hillock with drums, bonams and vows – the second-largest jatara in Telangana after Medaram.

The Gangamma Jatara is the great folk festival of Tirupati's village goddess, Sri Tatayyagunta Gangamma. For about a week the town celebrates with colourful veshams – devotees take on a different disguise each day, remembering how the Goddess outwitted a tyrant – ending with the Viswaroopa darshan of the Goddess.