Velal is a village in

Jaipur mandal Jaipur is a mandal in Mancherial District in Telangana state in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the ...

, Mancherial district,

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...

state, India. It is the location of the Sri Gattu Mallanna Swamy Temple that is notable for the

Maha Shivaratri Maha Shivaratri (IAST: Mahāśivarātri) is a Hindu festival celebrated annually in honour of the god Shiva. The name also refers to the night when Shiva performs the heavenly dance called Tandava. In every month of the luni-solar Hindu ca ...

festival.

Velal Mallanna Swamy Temple

Local lore says that the Sri Mallanna Swamy temple, sited on a hillock in Velal, is centuries old. It is known for the three-day-long Maha Shivaratri festivities, which take place around February and attract in excess of 100,000 devotees of

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

from various parts of northern Telangana, including Adilabad,

Karimnagar Karimnagar is also known as Elagandula (Ancient name) is a city and District Headquarters in the Indian state of Telangana. Karimnagar is a major urban agglomeration and fifth largest City in the state. It is governed by Municipal corporation a ...

and Nizamabad districts. As a part of tradition, devotees take a holy dip in the river and then prepare

Bonalu Bonalu is a traditional Hindu festival centered on the Goddess Mahakali from Telangana. This festival is celebrated annually in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, as well as in other parts of the state. It is celebrated in the month ...

(special sweet food made with

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

and

jaggary Jaggery is a traditional non-centrifugal cane sugar consumed in the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and Africa. It is a concentrated product of cane juice and often date or palm sap without separation of the molasses and crystals, and can v ...

) on the hillock using water from the nearby

Godavari River The Godavari (IAST: ''Godāvarī'' �od̪aːʋəɾiː is India's second longest river after the Ganga river and drains into the third largest basin in India, covering about 10% of India's total geographical area. Its source is in Trimbakeshw ...

. They present it to presiding deity Shiva in the temple. Similarly, people congregate at the holy place during the

jathara ''Jathara'' is a Telugu film starring Chiranjeevi. Cast * Chiranjeevi as Rambabu * Sreedhar as Shankaram * Nagabhushanam as Bhushaiah * Mada as Kamaraju * P. L. Narayana as Kishtamurthy * Leelavathi as Shankaram and Rambabu's mother * Suvarna ...

conducted during the Shivaratri festival. They participate in shopping and recreation.

References

{{Reflist Villages in Mancherial district