Puttur: Customary Annual Nemothsava of Enmakaje Starts Auspiciously
by: Nina Rai
Pictures: Dayananda Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network – Puttur
Puttur, Mar 5: Day four of the grand customary annual ‘Nemothsava’ of Enmakaje Tharavadu began here on Wednesday, March 04, at the Enmakaje Beedina house in Kasargod district.
At 9.30 am the Naga puja was done at the ‘bana’ (snake pit) by the priests, which concluded at 11.30 am. After which the ‘Nema’ started, which is quite an elaborate religious ceremony associated with the traditional Pilichamundi Raktheshwri and Parivara Daiva Nema of the Enmakaje house.
In this ritual the Bhoota Vishesha person is adorned with all the ornaments and swords taken from the main deity inside the temple and puja performed. From there he dances and goes to the main field where the wooden pilli (lion) is kept and waits for a guy to bring ‘Pilli Chamundi’ in a procession. Once he sees ‘Pilli Chamundi’ daiva getting ‘darshana’ he too starts doing same and charges towards Pilli and a dance ritual takes place. They then go to wooden tiger and once there the ‘Pilli Chamundi’ headgear is taken and tied on to the Bootha (person). After this he sits on the wooden tiger and is pulled by the devotees and brought to the edge of the field and from there amidst music and dance reaches the procession reaches the main portico of the temple. Various such rituals were performed here watched by a 5000 strong crowd which went on till 4.00 pm. The ‘Pilli Chamundi’ told the headman and elders of the house about the various ‘doshas’ and other aspects pertaining to the house. Prasadham was then distributed to devotees.
Earlier on day one i.e Sunday, March 1, the ‘Nemothsava’ began with the ‘Shuddikalasa’ (purification) ceremony. This ritual is basically performed to remove the ‘naga dosha’ in case any such bad omen has been left behind since the past one year after completion of the ‘brahmakalasha’, the construction of the temple and the ‘gopuram at Enmakaje’. The purification puja was performed by the chief priest Swami Veeranarayan Hande along with two priests, in the presence of the current head (Yejamana) of the family Y Vishwanath Rai. There were two major pujas performed. The Ganahoma puja by which blessings is sought from Lord Ganesha, followed by the Aslesha Bali puja. This puja is an elaborate ritual performed against a backdrop of exquisite rangoli design of snake king cobra. Various sweets and condiments are offered to appease the King of snakes.
Later in the evening at 7.45 pm began a ‘Bhakti Geete’ recital by Gayathri Ashokan, a well known playback, gazal and classical singer. She has trained under renowned Hindustani classical artist Alka Marulkar. She kept a 400 strong audience spell-bound with her repertoire of songs meant to show devotion to the Gods. She also sang some popular Hindi film songs sung originally by Lata Mangeshkar, which was well received by the audience.
Day 2 i.e Monday, March 02 of the Nemothsava began at 8 pm with rendition of classical bhakti songs by Vidyabhushana in front of an appreciative 750 strong audience. He is the recipient of Karnataka State ‘Rajyotsava Award’. During his performance here sang around 20 bhakti songs in his mellifluous voice which was thoroughly enjoyed by the appreciative and knowledgeable audience. His last famous prayer song ‘Bhagya da Laxmi Bharamma….’ met with a huge round of applause all round. Towards the end of this recital Sudhir Shetty of the UAE Exchange thanking the maestro profusely said that all gathered here will be indebted to him forever for his rendition of two hours of such sweet beautiful music. Day 3 i.e Tuesday, March 03 comprised of the Bhajana seva by Ganesha Bhajana Mandali of Bedrampalla and Hariseva in the form of money collection made by house members for Tirupathi Venkataramana.