KHANDOBA - JEJURI

The god one day appeared in the dream of the Sheti and asked for the hand of his daughter in marriage. The Sheti was over joyed by the offer and the marriage duly took place at Pal with great pomp and festivity. The story of Timmasheti and his daughter has no doubt something to do with the existence of the great Mahalaya alias Mhalsa at Nevasa. But it is not possible here nor is this the place to go into the details about this transformation. The annual festival begins with a procession of the god to the house of the bride which is temporarily located in the Pal part while the temple is, as already stated in the Rajapur part. The Patil of the village takes the Khandoba image on an elephant to the bride’s house.

Huge crowds accompany the procession which takes four hours to cross the distance of a sixteenth of a mile. Quantities of haladi and dry coconut are thrown in the air. The cheers of ‘Yelkot’, ‘Yelkot’, ‘Malharicha Yelkot’ fill the air. The vast majority of the crowds is made up of persons belonging to the Ramoshi and the Mangcommunities. The latter are at no other time allowed so near the god and no Mang worth the name would miss the annual opportunity of having the darshan of his god. When the palanquin of the god comes out of the shrine, the Mangs flank it on either side, their faces and clothes yellow with haladi and carrying big sticks. Nowhere else would one find the members of the lowest castes of Hindu society participating so enthusiastically in any religious festival as at Pal.

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