The Karrala samaram, a traditional fight, has been organised for hundreds of years and is part of the festivities. The festival is held to celebrate Lord Shiva vanquishing the demons, Mani and Mallasura.
Published Oct 14, 2024 | 12:34 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 14, 2024 | 1:01 PM
The Karrala samaram, a traditional fight, has been organised for hundreds of years and is part of the festivities. Several of the injured have been admitted to various hospitals. (Screengrab of 2020 event/Vishnu Vardhan Reddy/X)
About 80 people were injured in a ritualistic clash organised as part of the Devaragattu Banni festival — Karrala samaram — in Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool district.
A posse of around 1,000 policemen watched as about 3,000 people in two groups clashed with sticks and shed blood as part of the Vijayadashami festival on Saturday, 12 October, night.
The Karrala samaram, a traditional fight, has been organised for hundreds of years and is part of the festivities. Several of the injured have been admitted to various hospitals.
Incidentally, the government allows the blood sport linked to religion and is witnessed by lakhs of people from across Andhra Pradesh and outside. The clash, which lasted three to four hours, was held to appease Lord Shiva.
The event took place between two gattus (hillocks), Devaragattu and demons gattu. A senior police officer said the event was a celebration and not an act of violence.
“Only about 60 to 80 people suffered minor injuries. There were about two lakh people who witnessed the celebrations. The participants used sticks but they were only brandishing them. They did not attack one another. We monitored the proceedings using five drones,” Kurnool SP G Bindu Madhav told journalists on Sunday, 13 October.
According to Hindu mythology, Lord Shiva slew demons Mani and Mallasura for troubling sages who were observing tapasya on Devaragattu. The sages and the people in the nearby villages prayed to Lord Shiva to save them from the demons. Shiva took on the form of Bhairava and went to the Demons’ gattu and slew them, and the villagers celebrated the victory.
Later, a temple came up at Devaragattu where Lord Bhairava is the presiding deity. The people of three villages Nareniki, Neraniki Thanda, and Kothapet are the custodians of the temple.
On Vijayadashami day, the villagers take out the deity in a procession to the other gattu and then return to Devaragattu. As they return, people from several villages clash with them in an attempt to take the deity to their villages, hoping that it will bring them prosperity.
The showdown leads to a clash and several people get injured. It is said that spilling blood is warranted as it is considered a good sign.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
