Ellu Amavasye was celebrated in a traditional manner by the farming community across Yadgir district on Thursday.
Ellu Amavasye falls between the end of winter and the beginning of spring seasons.
From now onwards, the heat of the Sun will gradually increase by the size of a sesame. Therefore, this Amavasye is called as Ellu or Yellu Amavasye.
Farmers decorated their bullocks and carts and took them to their fields, mainly jowar, in the morning in most parts of the district.
The women members of the farming families woke up early in the morning and prepared their traditional cuisine.
It included, especially, jowar and bajra roti, groundnut puri, holige, roasted brinjal, bhartha (a mixture of carrots, cucumbers and other fresh vegetables), chatni of sesame and groundnut and others that are famous in the Kalyan Karnataka region.
The women and other members of the farming families then took the food items to their agricultural fields and spread them on the open ground while paying their respects to Mother Earth for having given them a good yield. They also said their prayers seeking more such good yield in the coming days.
The process of spreading food items on the open fields thus is called as Charaga in the rural/local language.
“We all farmers came to our fields in the morning and spread the food items on the open ground to offer our respects to Mother Earth, as this is an age-old tradition which the farming community has been following in the belief that by doing so Mother Earth will bless us with more such good yield. We stayed in our fields till evening and consumed the food offered to Mother Earth and also, gave it to our animals,“ farmer from Satyampet village in Shorapur taluk Vijaykumar Gulagi told The Hindu.
Members of most of the farming families who have settled down in the other parts of the country return to their native places in the district to celebrate Ellu Amavasye in a traditional manner.
“The younger generation is yet to get accustomed to the practice. They have to be told why farmers celebrate this Amavasye in a special manner and why they spread food items on the open jowar fields. Also, they are yet to obtain knowledge about preparing the special food items for the occasion. By doing so, they will be able to take the traditional celebrations to the next generation,“ social worker Umesh Mudnal has said.
