KURNOOL: The villagers of Kairuppala and Kallur celebrated Ugadi in a different manner on Friday and Saturday. Villagers of Kairuppala in Asapari mandal took part in the traditional ‘Pidakala Samaram’ (fighting with dung cakes) when procession of Lord Veerabhadra Swamy was taken out. As many as 50 persons were injured in the fight but none lodged a complaint with the police, Veerabhadra Swamy temple EO G Ramprasad has said.
In a traditional ceremony, the Lord was taken out of the village on a pleasure trip and while being brought into the village, a group of villagers obstructed it. Soon another group of villagers intervened and both the groups hurled dung cakes at each other. Lord Veerabhadra Swamy was taken into the temple even while dispute was on. It is believed that Lord Veerabhadra Swamy and goddess Bhadrakali got separated for sometime after an affair. Taking sides of gods, villagers also get divided into groups and fight with each other in the same way on every Ugadi.
In a similar manner, the Choudeswari Utsavalu in Kallur were also held in an unique way. Slush was arranged for about 3 feet depth near temple and donkeys were made to do round with carts called as ‘Gadidala Pradakshina’ in it.
Panyam MLA G Charitha Reddy, Rayalaseema Parirakshana samithi party chief Byreddy Rajasekar Reddy, district libraries society chairman S Dhanareddy, former MLA Katasani Rambhupal Reddy, former BJP district president G Nagaraju Yadav and several political leaders from different parties have visited the temple and participated in the celebrations. “It is a tradition at the temple and it is believed that making the donkeys walk in the slush would usher in peace and prosperity in the society,” the MLA said.