The Nagoba jatara — the annual religious event of the Buigoita branch of Mesram clan of the Raj Gond adivasis in Adilabad district — began on Monday.
Hundreds of Mesram families who had come from different places within the district as well as other adivasis participated in the ceremonies performed before the maha puja of the serpent god Nagoba, also called Sri Shek, all along the day.
The Nagoba temple is under construction and hence the maha puja and other rituals like sati puja were performed in makeshift enclosures symbolising the sanctum sanctorum. The first event of the day was the ceremonious bringing of the brass idol of Nagoba from Keslapur village, about 500 meters away, to the temple amid traditional music played by Pardhan musicians.
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The idol was temporarily consecrated for the purpose of maha puja in the night. Other ceremonies and rituals were performed with a much smaller idol of Sri Shek in the sanctum.
The idol of the serpent god was brought by Mesram Patels who represent Padiyor, the mythological king in the clan led by the Pardhans. After entering the temple with the holy water from the Godavari in jhari vessel, the Mesrams greeted each other.
They handed over the earthen pots to women of the 22 Mesram families which oversee organisation of the five-day event at Keslapur. The women fetched holy water from a local well and, using the water, made an ant hill, which is worshipped by the clan during their stay.
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The maha puja was performed in the night, signalling the start to the jatara or fair. The most important of the ceremonies of the opening night, bheting , was performed in the small hours of Tuesday.
Bheting has women who got married to men from the Mesram clan during the previous one year being introduced to Nagoba in a ritualistic fashion. It is after participating in this ceremony that the women symbolically become members of the clan.