Mailara Karnika: one line of prophecy for the whole year

The jatre gathers pace around Bharata Hunnime, the full moon of Magha, and the Karnika falls two or three days later. From Ratha Saptami the goravayya keeps an eleven-day vow, living on bhandara (turmeric) water, milk and fruit.

On Karnika day, in the evening, he comes out in a black kambali (woollen blanket) with a damaru drum and a trident, climbs the bow at Denkanamaradi, an open ground at Mylara, and speaks one line ending in "parak". The line is not explained from the bow; devotees read in it signs about the rains, the harvest and public life in the state.

Around the Karnika the jatre is a pilgrimage of whole families. Many come in bullock carts and tractors, bathe in the Tungabhadra and make offerings to Mailara Lingeshwara, and the cry "Elu koti" ("seven crore") is heard all through the fair. The Goravas, devotees of Mailara, dance with trident and damaru; on the last day of the jatre Goravas and Kanchiveeras perform feats with chains in the temple grounds.

Mailara is usually identified with Khandoba, a warrior form of Shiva worshipped across the Deccan. Inscriptions of 1063 and 1148 already mention Mailara and his consort, and Mylara is listed among the important temples of his cult. The temple stands in the south-west of Huvina Hadagali taluk, about 2 km from the Tungabhadra river.

The local legend, as told at Mylara, says that the demons Manikasura and Mallasura tormented the sages, who turned to Shiva for help. Shiva took the form of Mailara Lingeshwara, Parvati that of Gangimalamma, and they destroyed the demons in a great battle at Denkanamaradi, the same ground where the Karnika is spoken today. The eleven-day festival in Magha re-enacts that battle.

Mylara is a village far from the usual tourist routes, and on Karnika day it fills with lakhs of pilgrims. It makes most sense if you are already in north-central Karnataka, for example around Hampi.