Thursday, November 21, 2024
Andhra Pradesh

Fairs and Festivals


Festivals

Kechadmaru

Kechadmaru is celebrated by the tribals called Mathuras who inhabit Utmur Taluq in Adilbad district.  This festival is meant, for unmarried girls.  This is celebrated on the new moon day in the month of Shravana.  All the unmarried girls of the village gather at the Naik's house on that day and sings songs in the name of the guru to the accompaniment of drums and eat gogri (mixture of wheat or bengal gram and jaggery). 

All the girls dance in the morning and evening for nine days.  On the the tenth day they get clay, wheat or bengal gram and wet them with water.  The clay is placed on the patasa leaves.  This ritual is known as Dhovi.  This wheat or bengal gram is sown in this clay.  The girls continue singing till the next full moon day in Rakhi Purnima.  They tie the rakhi to the Mathura men present there.  The men folk offer presents to the girls.  The group singing continues for three days.  On the third day, the girls observe a fast and each one of the unmarried girls prepares feminine idol in her house and worship it.  After the worship, the fast is broken. This is called Teez. In the morning of the following day, the brothers of the girls, kick away the clay idols of their respective sisters.  Then the girls take the idols to front-yard of the Naik's house and keep them there.  All the Mathura men folk, young and old, gather at the Naik's house and dance around these idols.  The Naik offers them tea and paan.  The girls collect the idols, remove the seedlings from the clay and later the clay is immersed in the nearby stream.  The girls take' purampuri' with them and eat it here.  The seedlings are distributed among the male members after they return to their houses.  The men offer some presents and with that the festival concludes.