Ooty: Badagas thank God with potato roast offerings

OOTY: Potato roasting by lighting a fire in temples and related rituals marked the ancient celebrations of Devva-Habba of the Badagas in the Nilgiris, as they celebrated the harvest cum thanksgiving festival on Monday.

July in the midst of the Southwest monsoon is the period of Devva-Habba, a significant festival in the annals of the Badagas. While the four different zones celebrate this festival on different dates , the Merkunadu Seemai (west zone) Badagas celebrated the event at Sri Etheswara temple at Kil-Appukodu Badaga village near here on Monday with Badagas from 33 villages assembled for the occasion.

The highlight of the worship was the roasting of freshly harvested potatoes by lighting a fire with firewood in the temple premises.

When the potatoes baked were roasted to perfection, the villagers offered it to the presiding deity at the temple as a mark of thanksgiving and to pray for good tidings in the months to come.

B.S. Ramamurthy, former village head of Kil-Appukodu, said that traditionally it was freshly harvested wheat that was used for offering to the deity.  But nowadays, wheat cultivation had become scarce in the hills and over time replaced by potatoes, though some wheat is used for ritual purposes.  “Along with these we use other freshly harvested hill vegetables in the ceremony at the temple,” he said.

“In the Nilgiris, sowing season begins in March and the harvest season commences in July.  Hence, the harvest festival is celebrated now,” he explained.