Over 70 injured at Devaragattu Banni stick festival during Dussehra celebrations

TIRUPATI: More than 70 persons were injured at the traditional Banni festival stick-fight between two groups at Devaragattu village in Holagunda mandal in Kurnool district late on Saturday night and in the early hours on Sunday.
The injured were rushed to the mobile hospital set up at Devaragattu and to the Aluru and Adoni government hospitals in Kurnool district by the district police wing.
The Banni festival is celebrated on the night of Vijaya Dasami festival every year to celebrate the victory of Lord Mala Malleswara Swamy and Goddess Parvati Devi over demons Mani and Mallasura who used to trouble noble men and saints at the Devaragattu region.
Keeping the ancient traditions alive, Kalyanotsavam fete was held past midnight on Saturday and the idols were taken out in a procession atop the Aswa Vahanam by thousands of devotees hailing from Neraniki, Neraniki Thanda and Kothapeta villages.
Meanwhile, the rival group of devotees from Aluru, Sullivan, Yellarthi, Arizona and Netravatti villages joined hands together to hijack the prpcessional deities in a bid to divert the procession to their own villages, which according to them is considered auspicious for the whole village.
As the procession surged forward from Rakshapadi, the two groups of villagers armed with flaming torches, long sticks, metal ringed clubs etc, clashed with one another in a fierce battle, in a bid to take control of the procession.
Later, the processional deities were taken to Padalakatta on Sunday morning and the temple priest slit his thigh with a knife and offered blood to Lord Mala Malleswara Swamy.
On reaching Sri Baaveswara temple, the priest who stood under the Banni tree foretold the future and predicted the prices of various crops grown in the region including cotton, Johar, coriander etc.
Finally, the Lord's procession reached the Simhasana katta, where the priests performed special rituals, marking the conclusion of this year's Banni festival.
While three deaths were reported at the Banni festival last year, the elaborate security arrangements made by the Kurnool district police wing this year, ensured that the Banni festival passed off smoothly without any major untoward incidents on Saturday-Sunday.
Kurnool SP G Bindu Madhav stated that the district police wing had deployed about 800 police personnel, over a 100 high resolution CC cameras and also used about five drone cameras for the first time, which helped avert major bloodshed this year during the Banni festival at Devaragattu.