Walking in India’s 29th state, Telangana, previously part of Andhra Pradesh
Padayatra Andhra Pradesh has also become Padayatra Telangana. In fact, since its beginning in December 25th 2014, padayatris have exclusively walked in districts belonging to the newly formed Telangana State : Warangal, Khammam, Nalgonda, Mahbubnagar, and Rangareddi. They are now passing through the Medak Sangareddi district, heading north to the Adilabad district while facing their third summer on the road.
A little history for the curious : since June 2, 2014, after a batle of more than 54 years, the state of Andhra Pradesh was finally split into two states : Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Many reasons for the creation of this new state : economical, educational, political and cultural. Telangana comprises 41% of the population of the previous state of Andhra Pradesh, about 39 million people. It is formed of 10 districts, with the city of Hyderabad in the middle, which leaves 13 for the new Andhra Pradesh. Situated inland, Telangana has no coastal access to the Indian Ocean. Hotbed of the naxalite communists, Telangana is mostly barren land, with not much irrigation and not many natural resources. It has no developped cities except its capital, Hyderabad, which will remain the capital of both states for the next ten years ; after that Andhra Pradesh will have to establish its own separate capital.
A world of dualities
As the Srimad-bhagavatam warns us, in this world, there is danger at every step, especially when you’re walking on the roads in India.
Visnuswami Dasa (padayatra leader): « In January Chandramouli, one of our padayatris, was hit by a lorry. By Krishna’s grace he survived but his left hand got fractured. He underwent an operation, and everything is fine now. »
After distress and danger, come happiness and good times. In January, while the group was walking in the Mahabubnagar district , a group of local devotees and five guest devotees from Nizamabad participated in their ecstatic nagar sankirtana and stayed with them for one entire week. A great boost to the padayatris’ spirit !
In February they reached the town of Tandur where the local devotees offered the walking party a warm reception. Tandur, located 125 km west of Hyderabad, is famous for its blue and yellow coloured limestone, which are used for flooring, wall cladding and slabs. Did the padayatris heard about this specialty and did they remember two very famous personalities, one blue and one golden ? On February 22nd Visnuswami and his crew left the padayatra cart behind and took a train to Mayapur to participate in the annual Navadvipa Mandala Parikrama and the Gaura Purnima festival. During that time the Tandur devotees took care of the cart, oxen and deities and held their own Gaura Purnima festival at the padayatra cart. In the middle of March, Manu Dasa, a devotee from Canada, joined the padayatra for some time.
Heading toward Basara to attend the famous Godavari Pushkaralu festival
Devotees still have almost 200km to walk to the town of Basara (or Basar), located in the south-west corner of the Adilabad district, on the banks of the river Godavari. They hope to reach there the first week of July in order to attend the famous Godavari Puskaralu festival starting on July 14th. Out of the four main places of Kumbha-mela, Nasik is also located on the banks of the Godavari.
The Godavari Pushkaralu (also called Pushkaram) is a 24-day festival that comes every 12 years. This Pushkaralu is a kind of kumbha- mela celebratedon the banks of the holy Godavari river when Jupiter enters the zodiac sign of Leo. With nearly one million people daily taking bath, padayatris are planning to sell at least 500 books each day. As in other melas, the government makes arrangements for the pilgrims. Basara is also well known for its temple of goddess Jnana Sarasvati (the provider of knowledge), the most prominent Sarasvati temple in India.
The Godavari river flows mainly in Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh states and the Pushkaralu festival is also celebrated in other towns on the banks of the Godavari : Kalaiswaram, Dharmapuri,Badrachalam, Rajahmundry, Antervedi, Kovvur and Pattiseema.
Political map of Andhra Pradesh and map of the different districts (those in pale color,with Hyderabad in the center, are part of the Telangana state)