Rajula Festival of Andhra Pradesh
Name of Festival : Rajula Festival
Major Territory of Celebration
Mostly this festival is celebrated in the Andhra Pradesh, India.
Time of celebration (Month)
Rajula Festival falls in month of Ashadha (June – July) on full moon day.
Worship in Festival
Rajula Festival is celebrated in honour of Polam Raju or Nagoba deity.
About Festival :
In month of Ashadha and full moon day, all the male members, including children with their cattle go to the nearby forest and sacrifice a goat to Rajula deity. On this Kheer is made by rice cooked with milk and sugar and it is given to all the cattle, the rest eaten by the family members.
Afterwards a straight line, 20 or 30 metres long is drawn with turmeric powder and cattle are made to cross over it and driven away untended into the forest and brought back on the following day and the men perform the Puja. Women preparation the non- vegetarian feast, including Kheer is prepared and eaten with much relish.
A goat is sacrificed and its meat is distributed among all. On this day they do not touch the leaf of a teak tree till the function is over.
Reason of the Festival
The main based on the belief of the festival is that on the day, if any of the cattle driven away to the forest is killed by a tiger, the village would face a tiger menace throughout the year.
