The Hindu : Kanuma, reliving an age-old tradition

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jan 17, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam

Kanuma, reliving an age-old tradition

By Our Staff Reporter

VISAKHAPATNAM, JAN. 16. Festivity reaches its peak on the third day (Kanuma) of the ongoing Pongal festival, with most of the relatives coming together to celebrate it amidst good eats and spending time at movie theatres or at their favourite haunts. The roads wear a deserted look, as all the shops down shutters and the crowd is visible only at cinema halls. But 40 km from Visakhapatnam, Kanuma is celebrated amidst chanting of `Buddham saranam gacchami, sangham saranam gacchami'.

Well, that's how the people of Anakapalle and its neighbouring villages celebrate Kanuma. They throng in thousands to the 2,000 year-old Buddhist heritage spot `Bojjanna Konda'. The relics that were found in and around Visakhaptnam over the years consolidates that this place was the hub of Buddhism till a few centuries ago. And Bojjanna Konda is the most sanctified place among all the sites in this region. It has got more historical remnants than the others. "This was the central monastery in this region. It might have housed over 1,000 monks at a time as there are over 100 stupas of various sizes and it is believed that it contained a relic of Lord Buddha. Not only the village where it is located is called Sankaram, which otherwise in Buddhism is spelled as Sangharamam, meaning monastery," says Dibyananda, a monk from the Theeravada sect of Buddhism and who has come all the way from Manipur to perform the ritual.

According to him the ritual, which is performed on the Kanuma day is an age-old tradition and could date back to the establishment of the monastery itself. "This day is the `dana' day or the donation day. Peasants from the neighbouring villages bring harvested rice and cloth and offer them to the lord.

And this seems to be prevalent since centuries as per Buddhist records. But with the invasions of the Shaivites and the Moghuls this tradition was lost until the site was rediscovered in the early 20th Century," he says. Stupas and images of Buddha in various forms, cut and engraved on the monolithic rocks give the twisting tale of the influence of Mahayana, Hinayana and Vajrayana periods at the site. Whatever be the history, for the people of the neighbouring villages, it is time to celebrate Kanuma.

Dressed in their best they make a beeline to the site from noon and after offering prayers, have a gala time at the fair that is held at the foothills.

For eatables one can find `panchadara chilakalu' (sugar candies moulded to the shape of birds) or fresh sugar cane juice. According to G. Babulu, the attendance could be over 25,000 on a single evening and people from far-flung places also come to offer their prayers.

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