Avu Devata Festival
The Avu Devata festival is celebrated for three days in the
month of Jyeshtha. On the first day the devotees go to the cave
and worship the deity whose idol is brought in a carriage decorated
with flowers and installed at a certain place.
On the second
day several other idols are brought there. On the third day these
deities are offered Puja and the people who should follow them back
to their places are fed. In the evening, these deities are given
a send - off and the Avu Devata is also taken back after the cave
in the hill is decorated and worshipped. Ordinary umbrellas, silk
umbrellas, embroidered umbrellas and peacock feathers are offered
to the deity in fulfillment of vows. A fair is held in
connection with this festival.
Dappepallc in Rayachoti taluk of Cuddapah district
has Brahmagiri, a cave with the images of Erreddaiah and Paseddaiah
and the form of a cow. It was believed that, in the distant
past, two bulls born in the village exhibited super natural powers.
To perpetuate their memory the villagers deified them and the images
of the bulls and their cow were kept in a cave. Even now when
the rains fail, the priest takes bath and goes to the cave in his
wet clothes to worships 'Avu Devata'. They will offer coconuts, milk,
sugar, incense and eatables. It is believed that it generally
rains within a week.
