Come November and the historic neighbourhood of Basavanagudi in Bangalore gears up for its annual harvest festival, the Kadlekai Parishe. A tradition that dates over 400 years, this festival is celebrated on the iconic Bull temple road of the city which is blocked for traffic during the time of the celebration. The festival is a riot of colour with its vibrant ambience, mounds of groundnut as well as eclectic stalls selling all kinds of traditional snacks, toys, ceramics and even cookware. But did you know that this festival is steeped in tradition and rituals that date back centuries. Well, read on to find out about some interesting trivia associated with this groundnut festival.
Mythical Tales Galore: The festival is intrinsically associated with ancient folklore. History has it that the locality of Basavanagudi was once home to groundnut fields and was earlier called Sunkenhalli. It is said that a ferocious bull would come every full moon night and destroy the crop causing grief and fear among the farmers. Hence, they prayed to Lord Shiva and the Holy Bull Nandi to protect their crops. Their prayers were answered and as a token of gratitude the farmers took a vow to offer a part of their harvest to the Holy Bull. According to another story, one of the farmers hit the bull with a stick and on returning the next day, they saw it turn into a stone idol. Realizing that the bull was actually divine, the farmers built a shrine which is incidentally the big bull aka Doddabasavana temple. As a token of gratitude they decided to offer a part of their harvest each year to the Lord.
Doddabasavanna Temple, the Epicentre of the Festivities: The famous big bull temple in Basavanagudi, which is incidentally one of Bangalore’s most famous and historical landmarks, is central to the traditions and festivities associated with Kadlekai Parishe. It is here that the farmers offer a part of their harvest before selling them at the fair. It is also important to note that many farmers who come from neighbouring villages like Hoskote, Kolar etc, first pay obeisance at the Aralepete Basavanna temple in the Cottonpet area of the city and then proceed towards the temple in Basavanagudi. The entire area around the latter is replete with a vivacious fair like environment with play areas set up for children which including merry go rounds, giant wheels and a whole lot of fun rides.
Held on the last Monday of Kartik: The festival is always held on the last Monday of the holy month of Kartik which is the 8th lunar month in the Hindu calendar. According to author and historian Rajeev Nrupathunga, it was a day when lamps would be lit in all temples which helped farmers and visitors who came to the fair during the days when there was no electricity. In fact, the vicinity of the big bull temple is full of rocks which have hollow depressions on their surface and each of them would be filled with oil soaked cloths which would be lit up with a wick. These lights would be visible to the soldiers guarding Bangalore fort during the days of the yore.
Nandikolu Kunitha: this is an ancient folk dance that is performed as part of the Kadlekai Parishe festivities. Dancers balance a heavy, intricately decorated pole bearing the statue of a Nandi and dance away while the offering of groundnuts is made to the Lord. It is a high energy performance as the dancers precariously balance the pole which is close to 22 feet tall and weighs over 100 kg against high octane drum beats in the background. It is a traditional dance that symbolizes resilience and strength and is an integral part of this harvest festival.
Originally a Two-Day Festival: originally the parishe was a two day affair with the Monday being called the “Dodda” or big parishe and Tuesday being the “chikka” or small parishe. Now the festival has been extended to five days with several initiatives being taken to make the massive festival plastic free and environmentally friendly. Read more about this and the festival in general in my article in Zee Zest.
To read more stories about Bangalore, read this post. For more snapshots of Kadlekai Parishe 2025, click here.
