Putturu Mane Angala. Gate Maththu Maneya madyada Daari.
I still remember my childhood days. As the vacation neared, mom, my brother & me, we made plans about going to our Doddamma & Doddappa, making a stay there for the FAIR & even visiting granny at proper M'lore & my mama's.
This was a time to rejoice. Many of our other relatives also made it to Puttur during this time & we had lots & lots of guests at home. Kids playing, teenies flirting around, ladies chatting in kitchen & and men busy with field work talking business. It is also the time of mangoes & cashews. With mosquitoes chasing us at the mango & cashew plantations, we kids not bothered by their bites continue binging over all the fruits available. Relishing mangoes, with their juices flowing down our hands & we licking them up cleeeeaaaan.......... eww! But those are the childhood moments we remember forever.
Coming back to the FAIR, during childhood I enjoyed all the petty rides available, the petty shops who sold plastic bangles, earings, small purses, some TV rolls with pictures of the bollywood actors in them, balloons, magic shows, laughing mirrors, Bombay mitai (sugar candy), ice candy & my favorite charmuri. But now as grown ups living in Bangalore with so many amusement parks around we no longer yearn for those petty rides nor the generation now. What I still love about this FAIR is the charmuri. This time I had been to the FAIR, I ate lots & lots of charmuri like there was no tomorrow. First me & my cousin Shubha went to hog the KAMATH's CHARMURI & then again the nest day we made a visit with our family & hogged them again. Got a parcel as well & hogged at home too. JUST IMAGINE!!!!
Another attraction of the FAIR is the Fireworks after the rathototsava (Chariot Festival). But then during childhood this was the worst part of the Jaatre due to the sound as it scared me to death. I then usually closed my ears for the entire 45 mins to one hour show. But now it is fine.
After the Rathothsava, we would all sit in a ride or two especially the giant wheel & the my fair lady & return home. The next day after the rathothsava, is the day when God comes near your place in a procession on streets.
God is not carried on any cart on wheels but a particular Pundit (priest) is assigned for this duty. He carries the ( I do not know the weight exactly but it should be anywhere around ) idol decorated in flowers on his head & walks for kms. He does halt here & there where the idol is worshipped on platforms constructed by people at their respective houses. What I have noticed since my childhood days is that the pundit who carries this idol, is usually a very handsome guy with a pleasant smile adorning his face. The look on this persons face is very "divine". It's like we have the divinity before us as a prasad (blessing), during this fair.
I could not get a good picture of the pundit due to lack of essential lights.
We do not have a platform constructed at our place, hence we just make a small arrangement on a small table with all the required things for the pooja (worship). The lamps are lit, the camphor is fired in the form of "OM", agarbathis are fired & the flowers for worship are all arranged on this table. The pundit carrying the idol of EESHWARA, stops by & accepts the pooja, distributes the prasad & moves ahead.
The house next has a platform built & we all kids rush there to attend the pooja & me to get a glimpse of this handsome Poojaari (priest).
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