This village doesn't celebrate Ugadi

The village, located  close to Kodigehalli near here has not celebrated the Hindu New Year for as long as one can remember.

The vilage has 40 families, descendents of the Nolamba dynasty that ruled Madhugiri.

Thirty-six of the 40 families are devotees of the deity, Bettadarangatha Swamy, a Vokkaliga sub-sect.

Hundreds of years ago, Parvathi, a girl from one of the families was married off to a youth from neighbouring Sogenahalli.

The girl, a paragon of virtue, was constantly harassed by her in-laws. On Ugadi day, she was not allowed to wear new clothes, nor allowed to eat sweets and was forced to go out to graze cattle in the nearby jungle. Her family too did not sympathise with her.

Heartbroken at being prevented from celebrating the festival, Parvathi, put a curse on both families, that they too should not celebrate the festival, and burnt herself to death.

Such was the power of her curse that the family of her in-laws went to rack and ruin.

Terrified, families of her sub-sect in Shambhonahalli have not celebrated Ugadi since then. They cannot buy new clothes, even as the villages all around celebrate the festival with pomp. They cannot decorate their homes, not have the ritual oil bath, leave alone cook sweet meats. A senior citizen, Nanjundappa says many people who tried to defy the curse had suffered many problems.

He recalls that his brother Bette Gowda tried to break the jinx ten years ago. He asked his wife to cook sweetmeats and prepared the family to celebrate the fest on a grand scale.

“He lost his eyesight. Terrified, he offered a pooja as a tribute to the Bettadaranganatha Swamy, and got back his eyesight,” says Nanjundappa.