Khammam: Gutti Koya villages celebrate 'Gade'

Khammam: The Gutti Koya tribal people in the erstwhile Khammam district are busy conducting the famous 'Gade' festival traditionally and spiritually. They attended the celebrations in large numbers and performed rituals with pomp.

Around 10,000 families of migrated Gutti Koya people living in the border villages in the mandals of Bhadrachalam, Dummagudem, Cherla, Palvoncha, Kothagudem, Chandrugonda and others perform the festival during this month.

The day and night festival is organised every year between February and March. The festival is conducted by the people on different dates in their villages.

They performed special pujas for their deities and prayed to them to bestow strength and wealth on their families and thandas.

The festival was begun with a huge possession amid singing and dancing in the early hours of the day and concluded in the night after mass feeding. As part of the tradition, all the tribal families assemble at one place on the occasion. They offered their annual crop yields along with some forest products in pots and offered them to the goddess in the celebrations.

Speaking to The Hans India, one Gotti Koya expressed happiness at the grand celebrations of the festival in his village Chennapuram under Cherla agency in Kothagudem district.

He said the festival is conducted every year during February and March.

The yields of different crops are stored in one place in the houses for offering to the deities.

Such places are referred to as 'Gade.' It is only after making the offering to the deities do they consume it, he said, adding that no auspicious occasion including marriages is observed without first conducting the 'Gade' festival. It is a very big important festival for their tribal families, he noted.

'Gade' is akin to celebrating Sankranthi in January. After the festival, we will conduct the Bhumi festival (Bhoomi Panduga) and commence cultivation in June every year, the tribal said.