It was raining heavily and it does rain on the Jatra day, Mangai Jatra.

Fair time at the Jatra

Chicks for sale

According to the rituals set by the ancestors of the vadgaon village, the God of the village is to be presented with these chicks. One could spot one of those vendors selling chicks at Rs.5 each.

Once you reach the temple the chicks you have brought with you are supposedly to be tossed on to the roof of the temple!

All photos: Shrawan Zadoo

But why this strange name? Looking for the answer—– Read it then

There was a bakery beside the temple, then a very small place of Mr. Jambotkar.

He used to daily keep biscuits made in his bakery infront of the lord, and hence the name, “Biscuit Mahadev”.  Later the priests at the temple decided to give biscuits as prasad instead of the Sugar that was given in other temples.

The temple has recently been renovated.

Photos: Santosh Purohit

The Shiv Jayanti procession, with tableaux on different topics and cultural troupes dressed in colourful costumes, started from Bhave chowk this evening at 8 pm.

All these photos have been taken at Maruti galli, Ramdev Galli from 9.15 to 10pm.

This is treat to the eyes when ones sees the young children dressd up as shivaji and more elder ones performing Marshal art skills.

The presence of the young females was quite commendable and the acts performed were of great standard.

See complete images here

Click this link to see the Belgaum Gods collection of Photos.

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All images have been collected from various sources and will be added as and when new images come in. So you can bookmark that photo link.

There is an annual fest on the second day after Holi, which was yesterday. All devotes do a “Lotangan” and water is thrown on the devotees from all the houses.

In Pangul galli, a large number devotees performed “Lotangan puja” (“urulu seve”) at Ashwathama temple. It is believed that people do the Lotangan after their wish has been granted by the lord.

The temple in the narrow street of Pangul Galli houses the idol of the cursed mythical warrior.

On Monday, a large number of devotees made a beeline to perform the lotangan, even as onlookers kept splashing ‘gulal’ on them.

A special pooja was also performed and the temple committee distributed prasad. However, not many visit this shrine during rest of the year thanks to the curse attached to Ashwathama, who was believed to have killed the sons of the Pandavas. It is believed that seeing the idol brings bad luck.

Source: The Hindu

There also was live orchestra with foot tapping songs for the crowd to go mad.

The young crowd normally seen on Deshmukh road was not seen as most of them were on Lele ground but later the Deshmukh road also saw its old glory.

At holi milan

Ladies enjoying themselves

Kids spreading the colors of love

Crowds dancing to the music and throwing colorsLive orchestra

Traditioal dancers

Bizzare secne of tearing each others clothes

kid with a pichkari and tank behind Traditional dancers

MLA Abhay Patil at the venue

Dry colors being spread

abhay Patil being colored

Dhulvad (colors) will be played on March 1, in Shahpur and other areas Rangpanchami will be played on March 5.

Certain restrictions have been imposed by the Police.

People have been warned against splashing colours on vehicles or strangers and complete “holika-burning” by midnight of February 28.

People have also been warned against using tar, varnish, paints, acid, etc. Police in civil uniform will also be deployed at certain main areas and video shooting will also be done.

There are Prohibitory order for the sale of liquor in the district on account of Holi and Id Milad from 6 a.m. on February 28 for 48 hours and from 6 a.m. of March 5 for 24 hours.

The market is also all ready with various kinds of Pchkari’s, guns and colors of course. Today being Saturday, there was huge rush seen for buying Live chicken in the market.
The main areas where the young crowd have loads of fun is Deshmukh road in Tilakwadi, which virtually is filled with people and then the bad part of tearing each others clothes begins which is bizarre.

At press meet here Pramod Muthalik told that SRS has already in advance requested the schools and colleges not to allow their students to celebrate Valentine’s Day. SRS has also conveyed the same to restaurants and hotels in Belgaum. He said that liquor worth Rs 6,900 crore and drugs worth Rs 2,700 crore was sold in metro cities for Valentine’s Day.

So like last year Belgaum will seem to have a low profile Valentine’s day.

Regular tilgul which were priced at Rs.40/Kg this year cost you Rs.60/kg. The more superior quality ones cost you anything from Rs.120 to Rs.150. The ones with groundnuts Rs.300 and cashew nuts Rs.500.

The over all price increase has been 50% in some cases than previous year.

The vendors are ready with the goods but they aren’t finding buyers to that extent. A local seller told this blog, “Prices have shot up and hence we also have to hike the prices and which is affecting our sales.”
Makar Sankaranti marks the transition of the Sun into Capricorn on its celestial path. This is significant considering the Winter Solstice marks the beginning of the gradual increase of the duration of the day. Traditionally, this has been one of many harvest days in India.

About the festival:

Important dates : January 13 – Bhogi & January 14 – Sankranti

On bhogi day Special Bajra Bhakri and special vegetables are made here is the recipes to it.

How to make Bajri Bhakri

How to make Vegetable

In Maharashtra it is called ‘Tilgul’ and in Karnataka it is called ‘Yellu-Bella’.

Yellu means ’til’ or Sesame seeds and ‘Bella’ is Jaggery. A mixture of sesame seeds, jaggery, coconut and groundnuts are distributed to relatives and friends. ‘Yellu-Bella’ is normally distributed by women. There is a saying in Kannada “Yellu bella thindu olle maathadi” which means ‘Eat the mixture of sesame seeds and jaggery and speak only good’. Cattle are decorated with various colors and are made to jump over a bon-fire.

In Maharashtra on the Sankranti day people exchange multi-colored tilguls made from til (sesame seeds) and sugar and til-laddus made from til and jaggery. Gul-polis are offered for lunch. While exchanging tilguls as tokens of goodwill people greet each other saying – ‘til-gul ghya, god god bola’ meaning ‘accept these tilguls and speak sweet words’. The under-lying thought in the exchange of tilguls is to forget the past ill-feelings and hostilities and resolve to speak sweetly and remain friends. This is a special day for the women in Maharashtra when married women are invited for a get-together called ‘Haldi-Kumkum’ and given gifts (utensil, clothes, etc.), which the woman of the house purchases on that day. Typically, women wear black sarees on this occasion.

May the lord be with you always and also Joy & Peace.

Fatima Cathedral Camp

St.Anthony’s Chruch fish Market