Held at the renowned Dharmaraya Swamy Temple in
Bangalore, the Karaga festival is a celebration of goddess Shakti. The
festival, which starts on the full moon day of Chaitra and lasts for
nine days, derives its name from the earthen pot in which the goddess is
invoked.
Started by a Tamil-speaking community of gardeners called Thigalars,
the Karaga festival is a fiesta of spectacular rituals and processions.
Just after dusk on the Karaga day, a priest of the Dharmaraya temple
sets out from the temple precariously balancing an earthen pot bedecked
with flowers.
The priest, who observes penance for several days before the festival,
is dressed in female attire in saffron hues and wears the mangalsutra
(necklace) of his wife. He leads a stunning procession from the temple
accompanied by a dazzling play of swords by a number of dhoti-clad,
bare-chested Thigalars.
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