Vittal Birdev Annual Yatra at PATTANKODOLI:

 Vittal Birdev Annual Yatra at PATTANKODOLI: 

Shri Vittal Birdev Annual Yatra is observed at Pattan Kodoli village in Hatkangale Taluka near Kolhapur. It is the birth anniversary or Janmotsav festival of Vitthal Birdev Maharaj, who is a reincarnation of Lord Vishnu. The annual fair and festival attracts thousands of devotees to Pattan Kodoli village. Birdev is the family deity of the Shepherd community Dhangar from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa and Andhra Pradesh. The most important ceremony of this fare is the predictions by Shree Kheloba Rajabhau Waghmode, from Anjungau, a village in Solhapur District. The festive mood remains completely in groove with people throwing Haldi, i.e., turmeric powder over him while sitting under a Banyan tree and seeking his blessings. Sri Keloba Rajabau Waghmode, known as the ‘Baba’ of the devotees, walks 17 days from his village to reach Pattan Kodoli for the festival every year. He is considered as the messenger of god. Huge umbrellas are brought in to welcome the Baba to the temple, accompanied with a procession with drums and traditional music. As soon as he enters the temple, Baba attains a trance mode that makes him jump and dance that lasts for nearly 10 minutes. The Baba then goes ahead to foretell his predictions about farming, rain and future conditions in Kannada, his trance language, which is translated by the priest. He starts his journey back after the rituals gets over.

Such intense traditions and unbelievable rituals of India and its such vibrant culture has always been a wonder for a traveller from worldwide. This festival still has the strongest promise to fulfil a travel photographer’s dream for being it a relatively lesser known and less popular around the world.

Kolhapur Kushti Aakhara : Kushti, the traditional mud wrestling is the ancient sport in India and oldest in the world. Motibag aakhara of Kolhapur is one of the oldest aakhara in India. kushti takes place in a clay or dirt pit. The soil is mixed with ghee and other ingredients and is tended to before each practice. Wrestlers of aakhara live and train together and follow strict rules and a restricted life style. Soft drugs such as alcohol, (chewing) tabacco or even coffee and tea are not allowed. Wrestler lives off a high-energy diet that is supposed to build up body mass. The training schedule of a Kushti wrestler starts at around 4 or 5 am with exercises and practice matches. After lunch, wrestlers must sleep until the next training session of the day which starts around 4 pm and may last around two hours. During training sessions, wrestlers work themselves to near exhaustion. All these activities create amply opportunities of photography.