Bangalore Festivals

One of the most traveled destinations of India, Bangalore, the garden city of India, blooms even more colourfully during festivals. Tourists planning their vacation in Bangalore, the best time to travel to Bangalore is during Karaga, the metro's oldest and most important festival. Infused with mythological theme and a rich seam of folklore, Karaga is in a sense a celebration of India's rich cultural and religious heritage.

The roots of Karaga go back over five centuries and to the Tigala community which has kept the festival alive over the centuries. There is a power, indefinable but nevertheless pulsating furiously as the Karaga festival, particularly the nightlong procession gets underway to the throbbing of drums and cries of dik-dhi and Govinda from the surging crowds of devotees.

The festival of the Karaga is awaited by hundreds of bare chested, dhoti-clad and turbaned veerakumaras (brave youth) brandishing swords. Only a member of the Tigala community can be a veerakumara. Fire-walking, these young men dance around while striking their blades against their bare-chests. If blood should ooze out, it is considered an indication of the veerakumara's failure to adhere to the ritualistic formalities required for the occasion. Amidst fire-walking and frenzied dancing, the Karaga carrier emerges from the temple, surrounded by the men, the Karaga balanced on his head. For the Karaga carrier, the swords have a menacing significance because by tradition they are supposed to stab the Karanga carrier if he loses balance and falls. Fortunately, this has never happened in the long history of this festival.

One of the distinctive features of the Karaga that tourist will notice during their vacation in Bangalore is the participation in this festival by people of all creeds and communities. An eloquent testimony to the secular character of this festival is seen just before sunrise when the Karaga procession halts before the Dargah-e-Shariff of Hazrat Takwal Mastan, the 18th century Muslim saint. According to legend, Mastan was once hurt when he rushed to have a glimpse of the Karaga procession. The temple priests applied kumkum (vermilion) to his wounds. An overjoyed Mastan prayed to Draupadi that the procession should halt at his dargah (grave) after his death. This tradition has been maintained over the years, giving a distinct secular flavour to the festival.