Farmers celebrated Ellu Amavasya in Yadgir

The annual festival of the farming community, Ellu Amavasya, was celebrated with religious fervour in Yadgir district on Friday.

Farming families accompanied by friends performed rituals that signify worshipping Mother Earth and made offerings of jowar-mixed food items.

“It is the prime duty of every farmer to honour Mother Earth by making offerings to the fields with a prayer for a good yield in the rabi season,” Chandrashekhargouda Bilwar, a farmer from Hadnur village, said.

Traditionally, it is a form of thanksgiving to Mother Earth during which farmers offer a special puja on their farmland before they have a feast together.

“We are indebted to Mother Earth. Through the puja and offerings, we thank Mother Earth. For centuries, it has been the practice. It will continue for centuries to come,” said Bheem Reddy, who also belongs to a farmer’s family.

The feast usually consists of a variety of dishes, including jowar and bajra rotis, groundnut chutney, spicy dishes of rice and millets and sweets.

For the farming families, the day begins early, as they have to prepare the special feast before heading to their farmland. “We begin preparing food early in the morning. The usual practice is to share it with others after the puja,” another farmer, Rudragouda Patil, said.