Devotees started pouring in large numbers into the Thathayagunta Gangamma temple, situated in the heart of the temple city, to offer prayers during the ongoing annual folk festival ‘Ganga Jatara’.
It is for the first time in the history of the centuries-old temple that the annual folk festival, which was scheduled from May 7 to 15, was postponed by a week and began on May 14, as the elections were scheduled for May 13 when 144 Section would be imposed. The postponement of the festivals by nearly a week was widely perceived as the Goddess giving way for the smooth conduct of the elections.
The folk festival is meant to appease the ‘Grama Devatha’ (village deity). The nine-day event comprises devotees donning various guises, smearing colours all over their bodies, and staging processions on the streets around the temple.
