The Hindu : Karnataka News : Cultural bonding at Banashankari jatre

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Friday, Jan 23, 2009
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Karnataka

Karnataka

Cultural bonding at Banashankari jatre

T.V. Sivanandan

People from Karnataka, Maharashtra attend the event

The jatre is more a cultural festival than
a religious event
At least 10 drama troupes are expected to
stage their plays

Badami: Badami, which was the capital city of the Chalukya kings, is famous for its cave temples and the Banashankari jatre.

The jatre is symbolic of the cultural bonding that has prevailed for centuries between people of different communities here.

The month-long jatre, which is held every year from the full moon day of the Kannada month of “Pushya”, started on January 12.

Though it is connected to the annual car festival of Banashankari temple, the jatre is more a cultural festival than a religious event.

According to historian Sheelkant Pattar, who has done research on the architecture of the cave temples of Badami and the temples of Pattadakal and Aihole, the old Banashankari temple was constructed during the Rashtrakuta period and the existing temple was constructed in 1750 by a Maratha chieftain, Parusharam Agale. Though no historical data is available on when the Banashankari jatre was first held, Mr. Pattar believed that the jatre goes back to over 20 decades. Devotees from across Maharashtra and Karnataka converge on this small yet beautiful town to experience life in the countryside. People of different religions and culture attend the jatre during which marriages are fixed and agricultural implements are bought.

The jatre is the time when farmers forget their problems and spend time happily with their family and friends. In fact, many of them go on a shopping spree. Besides essential commodities, they purchase clothes for the whole year for all the family members and spend the evenings watching plays. At least 10 professional drama troupes camp here during the jatre and stage plays to entertain the crowd.

It is an experience in itself to spend a few hours in the overcrowded jatre area where everything from the famous sweet dish “Karadantu” to mouthwatering chilli bajjis are available. Another interesting feature is that the majority of the shops which sell vermilion and sacred threads are run by Muslims, and each shop has a portrait of Goddess Banashankari.

Artisans of Holeyalur and surrounding areas exhibit intricately carved doorframes and doors crafted in teak, acacia and other varieties of wood. Customers from across the State buy these doorframes and doors during the jatre.

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