If you are from Bangalore you definitely would know ‘Kadalekai Parishe’ or groundnut fair. This annual fair is any groundnut lover’s paradise. One entire street is dedicated to this festival and farmers from nearby villages come here to sell their peanuts. The two-day Kadalekai Parishe is unique to Bangalore alone.
The area around Big Bull Temple in Basavanagudi is set to spring to life with the two-day groundnut fair, popularly known as Kadlekai Parishe, which will begin on Monday (Nov17).
It has been a tradition for groundnut growers from the then Guttahalli, Dasarahalli, Hosakerehalli and nearby villages to offer groundnuts to the bull god and sell them at the fair. The temple built by Magadi Kempegowda in 1537 is being decorated with lights.
The pavements on Bull Temple Road, Bugle Rock Road, Mount Joy Road, Karanji Anjaneya Temple Road and a few adjacent roads are being occupied by vendors selling items other than just groundnuts.
The fair is organized by the Department of Muzrai and the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), and special arrangements is being made for devotees to have darshan at Bull Temple and also at nearby temples.
Varities of groundnuts– raw and roasted will be availabe for one to buy.
The festival will begin with people worshipping the sacred bull by offering groundnuts. After worship, the devotees on their way back to home buy a bagful of groundnuts too.
As usual, the fair will begin on the eve of Karthika Somawara (last Monday of Hindu month of Karthika) is called the chikka parishe (small fair) and this was followed by the dodda parishe (big fair) on the next two days.
As said decades ago, Basavanagudi was surrounded by several villages like Guttahalli, Mavalli, Dasarahalli and other places where groundnut used to be cultivated. It is said that on every full moon day a bull would charge into the groundnut fields and damage the crop. So the farmers then offered prayers to Basava (Nandi) to stop this and pledged to offer their first crop. Subsequently, an Idol of Basava too was found close by. It has been said that, the Idol was growing rapidly, and the farmers nailed an iron peg on the head of the idol, which is visible in the form of a trishula even to this date.
Later in the year 1537, Kempe Gowda, founder of Bangalore, dedicated a temple to ‘Dodda Basava’ on top of the Basavanagudi hillock and installed the Idol. This temple is known as Big Bull Temple.
Ever since, the farmers from surrounding villages come here every year and offer their annual harvest of groundnut as offering to Lord Basava. This is accompanied by the annual fair, which is known as the Kadalekai Parishe. But today the entire scenario is changed. With the mammoth growth of the city, the villages have disappeared or merged into city areas. And also there are no fields to grow groundnut.
Yet to keep the tradition alive people and traders are getting it from neighbouring areas and far off places.
