In our first meeting in Kangundi in January 2025, Shri PS Munirathnam Garu insisted that, we volunteers of Mahavtar Babaji Tadekam Foundation (MTBF) attended Mahashivtari Pooja and associated festivities in Kangundi.
For us, it was a God sent invitation. So we flew back to Kuppam via Tirupathi on 25 February. The pre Mahashivtari Tricolour Rally taken out by students under Kangundi’s dominatong inselberg gave a nice patriotic flavour to the festive mood.
The Pooja began at 7pm from Shri PS Munirathnam Garu’s house with his wife carrying the Holy Bull’s silver ornaments. A trumpet call signaled the beginning of the Pooja. It’s the trumpet as used by the Martha’s under Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
The popular tambourine player Sriranga and a local carnatic musical band led the procession to the precincts of Kangundi Fort. Fire crackers lit up the sky and the Kangundi Inselberg.
Then came the surprise. The first Pooja spot was a small clearing in a the field where the Holy Bull stood full of pride, as if knowing he was the hero of the Pooja. Six priests from the Valmiki Tribes performed the rituals, with prayers to a holy tambourine, holy pair of nail studded wooden padukas (slippers), etc.
Shri PS Munirathnam Garu, at this stage interrupted the Pooja, to explain the procedure to us in Hindi/ English.
Just as he finished, two priests became possessed with Divine energies. One of them jumped on the padukas full of nails and began walking towards the Nandi (bull) Temple at the base of the Fort for the next (second) Pooja.
The procession wound it’s way to the Nandi Temple which guards the Fort. There an even more movel Pooja awaited us. The priests put one lemon at a time on the Nandi’s head and prayed for Nandi to let it fall off. This was done for three lemons; one each for the ruler, people and for the soldiers.
Again, Shri PS Munirathnam explained the Pooja to us.
We then moved to the main Lord Shiva Temple in Kangundi where the new logo of ‘Kuppam Bouldering’ and its souvenirs were released. This was followed by a sumptuous vegetarian meal served on banana leaves. After then, the village settled down to enjoy the night-long Mahabharat Natakam (drama) performance in which men played feminine roles as well.
The next day the Holy Bull, followed by the villagers, climbed up the Fort for a Pooja at the Lord Shiva Temple on the top of the Kangundi Inselberg.
Mesmerized, we returned to Kuppam with greater resolve to promote cultural tourism in Kangundi and Kuppam.
A must watch festival which remind tourists of the Tollywood movie Kantara.