Telangana: Devotees Rush To Penganga Jatara Celebrations In Adilabad

The Pen Ganga fair is celebrated on the banks of the river Pen Ganga on the border of Telangana and Maharashtra. Thousands of devotees from both the states flock to this festival which is held every year in the new moon month. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Maharashtra government did not allow this year's fair and thus devotees are only coming to offer prayers.

The gala Pen Ganga Jatara is held at Dollara in the Jainath Zone of Adilabad District on the Maharashtra border. The fair, which is held every year in the new moon, attracts a large number of people from Maharashtra and Telangana. Special pujas are performed near the river and people also offer prayers. Near the Pen Ganga, there are the tombs of Shivalingam, Ramananda Tirtha and Madhava Maharaj. All the devotees who come here bath in the Pen Ganga and perform pujas by visiting the tombs along with the Shivalingam.

Offerings are made with curd rice, sweet paramannam, and appam-garelu. At the place where the river flows, small stones are worshipped and flour dishes are placed on a raft and left in the Ganges. Devotees believe that by doing so, sins will be removed and diseases will be cured. The five-day fair attracts a large number of devotees from Maharashtra as well as various villages in Adilabad district. This time due to Covid-19 the Maharashtra government did not permit the Pen Ganga Jatara.