Tirupati Ganga Jathara Starts on May 10
Tirupati Ganga Jathara Ends on May 17
Tirupati Sri Tataiahgunta Gangamma Temple or Tirupati Gangamma Jatara or Tirupati Gangajatara is the annual folk festival of Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. It is a week-long event that falls between the first and second weeks of May every year. This festival is to offer prayers to the goddess Gangamma, the Gramadevata (the goddess looking after the village) of Tirupati.
Ganga Jatara, the folk festival of Tirupati, begins with the formal chatimpu (announcement) around midnight on Tuesdays. The Gangajatara is led by the Theallaya Mirasi Achari family: Eepur Achari and Kasi Achari run the Jatara festival and do all the arrangements.
The Gangamma Jatara is a very famous local festival for the Tirupati people. It takes place every year in May. As the Gangamma Temple was on the banks of Thathaya gunta, the temple is known as “Tataiahgunta Gangamma Temple”.
The priests performed the initiation rituals and tied the ‘Vadibalu’ to the ‘Viswaroopa Sthambam’ in front of the temple, which set the stage for the feast. The men who parade the Chatimpu around the old town, banging dappus to announce that the festival has begun and therefore the residents should not leave the city until the festival is over.
The priests make the huge traditional clay idol of the goddess in the portico of the temple. Everyone during the festival comes to pray to the Goddess to gift them Pongal, Sarees, turmeric, Kumkum etc.
On the last day of the festival, the gate will break into pieces at an auspicious time. Devotees then clamor for the clay smithereens, which they consider sacred, to be kept in the ‘Puja’ room or consumed by mixing them with water. Although animal sacrifices were forbidden, goats and birds were slaughtered at will in one corner of the temple.
This year Tirupati Sri Tataiahgunta Gangamma Temple starts on 10 May and ends on 17 May.
Tirupati Gangajatara 2022 Schedule:
| Day | Weekdays | Vesham/Makeup |
|---|---|---|
| 10 May | Tuesday | Chatimpu |
| 11 May | Wednesday | Bairagi Vesham |
| 12 May | Thursday | Banda Vesham |
| 13 May | Friday | Thota Vesham |
| 14 May | Saturday | Dhora Vesham |
| 15 May | Sunday | Mathangi Vesham |
| 16 May | Monday | Sunnapu Kundalu |
| 17 May | Tuesday | Gangamma Jathara. Sapparam |
Temple Offerings:
Animals:
Devotees offer goats and hens to the goddess.
Pongal:
Women prepare Pongal a local dish prepared with rice, mung beans and sugar in the temple and offer it to the goddess.
Walking on knees:
Similarly, there is another practice that women come on their knees from their house to the temple. First, they roll a coconut down the road, then they walk on their knees up to the point, pick up the coconut and roll it again. These practices testify to the strong faith that the local residents of Tirupati have in the goddess.
Drinks:
‘Ragi Ambali’, a drink made of ragi and rice, is offered to the goddess and is then distributed to the devotees.
