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Book Review
Socio-cultural study
KARAGA TRADITION — A cultural study: Dr. M. Sumitra; Published by Ankita Pustaka, 53, Shamsingh Complex, Gandhi Bazar Main Road, Basavangudi, Bangalore-560004. Rs. 90.
THIS WORK highlights the cultural heritage of the community called, Thigalas of Karnataka, having a Tamilian lineage who moved to the Kannada land, more than a century ago and as legend has it, even as early as the 10th century.
The crowning piece of their cultural heritage is the Karaga festival, which is celebrated in its pristine form in the town of Malur, about 30 miles away on the Bangalore-Chennai highway. It throws a flood of light on the Thigala clan's Draupadi worship ritual, which the Karaga is all about.
In the Karaga, a qualified and ordained devotee carries on his head the conical shaped "Kalasha", decked with flowers, and walks in a trance along a charted route. The Kalasha is the symbol of Draupadi.
The Thigalas form the community of gardeners known for their horticultural skills. The author quotes historical evidence for the version that Hyder Ali, the Nawab of Mysore (father of Tippu Sultan), during his South Indian military campaign, was impressed with the gardening skills of the Thigalas of Tamil Nadu, inhabiting the Kancheepuram region, and brought a big batch of them to Mysore, some 150 years ago. The other versions of the origin of the community are also discussed.
The author has treated the Malur-based Karaga festival as the authentic and pure version, celebrated over 13 days in the summer months, usually starting on the first Friday after the Ugadi New Year day.
There is an elaborate description of the rituals. The festival held in Bangalore in early summer is a great annual attraction drawing lakhs of devotees from the districts round the city. The seat of the festival is the Dharmaraya temple in Nagartpet.
The similarities and dissimilarities between the Tamil Nadu version of the festival and that of Karnataka are also sketched, backed with a narration of the career of the cult of Draupadi deification and worship.
A coloured pictorial presentation adds value to the research study which makes enjoyable reading.
C. M. RAMACHANDRA
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