VORVADY

An oil lamp keeps burning in the ceremonial front door of the Vorvady House in the evenings on all the days in the year. This is a century-old practice that continues even today. When the family members do not stay in the house, they arrange to have the sacred lamp burning through domestic help. So also the main door (hebbagilu) has to remain open from morning to dusk every day.

From 1942 onwards the task of keeping the lamp of tradition burning in the Vorvady House fell upon the branches of Akkaya and Rajeevi. Since Rajeevi and Akkaya are no more, Rajeevi’s only daughter Sumavati conducts the rituals on a biennial basis while the children of Akkaya manage the events on alternative years.

The household deity of Vorvady is Kodmanthaya. Another deity worshipped here is Panjurli, the deity of agriculture. There are separate chambers for these dieties in the Vorvady House, one in the Hebbagilu portion and the other inside the dwelling portion. The annual Vorvady kola is held in order to propitiate these deities. Not only the family members but also the entire population of Vorvady hamlet believe that this ritual ensures the health and happiness of all their kith and kin. So also is the kambla, the annual buffalo race. Villagers still have faith that the kambla ceremony is beneficial for the agricultural prosperity of the entire village. The villagers, therefore, consider it their sacred duty to actively participate in the conduct of these annual rituals.

Tambila, however, is restricted to the family members of the Vorvady House. It is a ritual conducted in honour of Panjurli, the guardian deity of agriculture. Tambila is organized in the month of April every year, after the Tulu (Solar) New Year Day (Ugadi). A ritual called agel (offering food for ancestral deities) is also held in the night of Tambila.

A two-night ritual called pootha pooje (which literally means offering of flowers to the deity) is held in the Vorvady House in the month of Sona, that is, August-September. First night’s pooja is reserved for the villagers and the second night is for the family members of Vorvady. The ceremonial ornaments of the house deity Kodmanthaya is taken out from the room and solemnly carried to the sana (temple of the deity located half a km away from the House. The ornaments are worshipped at the sana and then brought back to the House to be placed in the special room of the House deity.

Once in two years, a ritual called gondlu is also organized in the House. It involves the participation of the villagers who sing in praise of the guardian deity of Vorvady.

Kambla is the grandest ceremony of all these rituals. More than a ceremony, it is a festival for all the nearby villagers. Kambla is a spectacular buffalo race held in the largest paddy field at the foot of the Vorvady House. It is conducted during the month of November-December every year on an auspicious day fixed in consultation with the local priests. Once the date is fixed, invitations are sent to leading agricultural families in the adjoining villages. Whosoever keeps sturdy buffaloes capable of taking part in the race willingly participaes in the Vorvady kambla. Racing buffaloes land on the site on the appointed day. Their trainers keep the buffaloes fit for the competition. The fastest running pair of buffaloes are declared prize winners and their owners receive a gold medal. Mass feeding is organized. Tea and snacks are served to everybody in the evening.

Following implementation of the Land Reforms Act in Karnataka in the year 1966, almost all the cultivable lands hitherto in the hands of tenants slipped out of the hands of the landlords. A new era in socio-economic transformation started taking place with the tenants becoming owners of the lands. For the landlords this was a big jolt as the carpet was pulled out off their feet. For the tenants it was a windfall. Like all landlords in Karnataka, the Vorvady landowners too became landless overnight.

Vorvady House lost most of its lands but the annual rituals could not be dispensed with for fear of inviting the wrath of the family deity. The erstwhile tenants who had become owners of the Vorvady lands too are convinced that the annual rituals are a must for their own welfare. But it is an expensive proposition and only the owners of Vorvady House could conduct these ceremonies from out of their own pockets. It has thus become a necessary burden. It continues to be so. But the ceremonies are nevertheless conducted with religious fervour despite the pocket-pinching exercise. Almost all the members of the Vorvady Extended Family converge in the Vorvady House to participate in these ceremonies. They donate money to meet some part of the expenses. They also enthusiastically join hands in the chores connected with hospitality during these special events.

Every time, the agony of conducting the rituals gives way to ecstasy once the rituals are over. It springs out of a solid faith that if the guardian deities are happy, everybody in Vorvady is happy.