Nagoba Yatra is an Indian festival celebrated mostly in Telangana and its adjacent areas like Andhra Pradesh. Nagoba Yatra is among the most important religious events for the Adivasi Gond tribe, which had ruled Central India for centuries.
Occasion of Nagoba Yatra
The Mesram clan of Gonds, which considers Nagoba Yatra or Nagendra its "mul purush" or progenitor, will get together at Keslapur for the annual Yatra to worship the serpent God between January 19 and 25 every year.
Mythological History of Nagoba Yatra
The mythological history of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Nagoba Yaatra had come down to this place, in the present day Indervelli mandal of Adilabad district, to punish king Padiyor, who had angered the former. He, however, was pacified after the Gonds offered "naivedyam" of seven varieties.
Rituals of Nagoba Yatra
The rituals of Nagoba Yatra associated with pacification and prayers of the serpent God continue to this day, which forms the spirit of the five or six-day event. In due course, Nagoba Yatra became a social and cultural event for the Mesram clan Gonds, spread across a large tract of land in six states in Central India in modern era.
Modern History of Nagoba Yatra
Until the advent of the 1970s, the Gond tribes used to worship only an anthill under a tree, which stood where the present Nagoba temple stands. The place, nevertheless, used to come alive with the arrival of hundreds of Gond families even from far flung places. The area had good forest cover then and the atmosphere used to be lively. It was the anthropologist, Christopher von Furer-Haimendorf, who had recognised the importance of the Nagoba Yatra to the global festivals and tried to make it an event for addressing the grievances of the Gond and other Adivasi tribes of Adilabad in the time of British Raj. He started the darbar at the Yatra for the Adivasi tribal people to air their grievances in 1944.
Pradhan Musicians in Nagoba Yatra
The recital of Nagoba Yatra by Pardhan musicians on all the days during which the Yatra is held is no longer existed. But some of the Gonds used it as a traditional purpose.
Celebration of Nagoba Yatra
Before the start of the puja in Nagoba Yatra, the Gonds continue to purify the temple with Ganga water, the holy water of India from Godavari River as Godavari is denoted as the Ganga of the South. It is drawn at a spot called "Hastinamadugu" where Nagoba Yatra is believed to have quenched his thirst after partaking the "naivedyam". Nagoba Yatra event also includes a ceremony called "bheting", which incorporates new brides into the clan.
