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Nellore gearing up for Roti festival
While some devotees leave home-made rotis as a thanksgiving for fulfilment of their past wishes, others receive such rotis seeking their wishes to be fulfilled. The tradition developed at the Bara Shahid Dargah (a mausoleum of 12 tombs of martyred warriors) over the decades with pilgrims initially bringing and
Nellore: The city is getting ready for hosting famous annual three-day ‘Rottela Panduga’ (Roti festival) from the second week of October. District administration and the civic body started elaborate arrangements.The government has declared ‘Rottela Panduga’ as an official fest in August, 2015. Lakhs of devotees are expected to take part in the Roti Festival, which marks the exchange of bread slices among devotees cutting across religious beliefs. Pilgrims are expected from across the country and abroad.
While some devotees leave home-made rotis as a thanksgiving for fulfilment of their past wishes, others receive such rotis seeking their wishes to be fulfilled. The tradition developed at the Bara Shahid Dargah (a mausoleum of 12 tombs of martyred warriors) over the decades with pilgrims initially bringing and offering rotis to the 12 martyrs who had sacrificed their lives in a battle against the British troops in 1751.
As per the legend, the 12 warriors were beheaded by rival forces with their severed heads left at the place, which later developed into the Bara Shahid Dargah. These martyrs were stated to be nawabs of Carnatic.The uniqueness of ‘Rottela Panduga’ is that the rotis are exchanged seeking fulfilment of a variety of wishes, including for children, marriage, job, success in studies, career growth and so on. Those who cannot bring home-made rotis can purchase bread slices and rotis available at Rs 5 to Rs 10 near the dargah.
Earlier, devotees used to face difficulties for accommodation, toilets and changing dress after taking a bath in the nearby tank. Vehicle parking, crowd management were also found to be major difficulties for the administration and this year the State government has come up with a constructive plan.
Last year, devotees were provided accommodation in huge play grounds, stadia and other vacant places for vehicle parking. Open defecation was the major problem that spoils hygiene in the environs and the civic body has started constructing 120 permanent toilets with Rs 84 lakh.
The municipal officials were spending Rs 16 to Rs 18 lakh for the past two years for arranging mobile toilets.The State government has also allocated Rs 2.67 crore from the funds provided by the Union government as part of Swadesh Darshan Scheme meant for improving tourism in the district for constructing ghats at Swarnala Cheruvu where the fest takes place.
Police personnel are managing the Command Control Room using advanced CCTV cameras to monitor the movement of crowd .“We are spending Rs 1 crore on amenities for the devotees.They will be provided water, toilets, barricading, and parking. Wakf Board is spending Rs 16 lakh and the tourism department Rs 4 crore for the amenities,” said K Venkateswarlu, municipal commissioner.
