Eruvaka Purnima
This is a special festival celebrated mainly by the farmers and agriculturists. It falls on the full moon day in the month of Ashadha. Agriculturists worship the yoke, the plough and the bulls with turmeric and kumkum. Coconuts are broken either at home or in the field, in-front of the yokes and bulls. They inaugurate the annual cultivation by ploughing five or nine rounds in their fields on this day, as it is supposed to be an auspicious day auguring fresh showers. They also cook payasam, a small dish and enjoy it with their children and relatives. In some parts of the country cultivators worship the bullock. They wash the cattle, smear and decorate the hooves and horns with oil and a variety of colours and feed them with pulagam (rice, green gram dal and sesame cooked together). The bodies are also decorated gaily with coloured circles and designs. Little bells are tied to their horns and necks and they are driven out into the open space to wander and run about. The tillers take home a part of the festoon that is tied to the village gate, after the cattle pass under it as a talisman for the ensuring year. Children collect seeds a week in advance and sow them in the corners of the temple. By the festival day, the young plants sprout and a few of these tender plants are taken home by the tillers and kept in their granaries for a prosperous crop during the coming year. The gaily dressed people and the colourfully decorated cattle make the village a grand spectacle of colour and pageantry.
Nagula Chaviti
This is observed on the fourth day of the bright fortnight in the month of either Sravana or Kartika. This is a pre-historic celebration of Naga or Serpent-worship observed throughout Andhra. Every village in Andhra has some or other Naga idol carved in stone or wood. Generally the women fast on this day and propitiate Nagas by offering fresh, un-boiled cow's milk. Many families have ant - hills which have been worshipped for generations. Miniature silver eyes and hoods of the Serpent God are placed on the ant - hills and coconuts are broken. Some people have gold and silver images along with their family deities for daily worship. Charimidi, Pamakam and vada pappu are the special dishes for this day. After praying to the Naga for protection of the family and children, particularly from snake bite, people smear their eyes and ears with the earth from the ant - hills. There are many Telugu folk songs sung in the praise of the Serpent God.
Poleramma
Festival
This festival is celebrated for three days. A big kumbham is offered and after, it is mixed with the blood of sacrificial buffalo. It is placed on the head of a person who scatters it around the village. At that time no outsider is allowed to stay there as it is believed that if an outsider carries away the bali, his village would receive the blessings of the gods and not the village that worship the goddess. So the person carrying the bali is watched carefully and swords are waved over to him.
Ankamma Festival
Ankamma festival is celebrated for five days in the month of Ashadha. The deity is placed in a palanquin and taken in a procession early in the morning. The floor is decorated with rangavali. A heap of cooked rice is offered and a ram is sacrificed on the evening of the following day. Ankamma on a tiger - shaped vehicle and her sister Mahalakshmamma on a jackal - shaped vehicle are taken to a four- shelled cart, along with a basket. The villagers drop neem leaves and cooked rice into the basket. A lizard, a pig, a goat, a fowl and a human form made of flour are impaled on the spikes of the cart. The procession goes to the temple accompanied by the music and dance. On the fourth day devotees observe a fast and fulfill their vows. Balls of rice flour and jaggery are offered to Ankamma, Mahalakshmamma, poleramma and poturaj carts with vessels of cooked rice and bengal gram are taken around the temple and offered to the deity. A ram and a goat are sacrificed to Ankamma, Mahalakshmamma respectively. On the fifty day, Ankamma and Mahalakshmamma go hunting towards the north of the village on the respective vehicles. There a ram's ear is cut and the ram is driven to the temple. All things necessary for a feast to Ankamma and her relatives are provided in the temple and its doors are closed for three days. It is believed that if anyone opens the door within these three days, his head would break into pieces.
Avu Devata Festival
The Avu Devata festival is celebrated for three days in the month of Jyeshtha. On the first day the devotees go to the cave and worship the deity whose idol is brought in a carriage decorated with flowers and installed at a certain place. On the second day several other idols are brought there. On the third day these deities are offered Puja and the people who should follow them back to their places are fed. In the evening, these deities are given a send - off and the Avu Devata is also taken back after the cave in the hill is decorated and worshipped. Ordinary umbrellas, silk umbrellas, embroidered umbrellas and peacock feathers are offered to the deity in fulfillment of vows. A fair is held in connection with this festival.
Dappepallc in Rayachoti taluk of Cuddapah district has Brahmagiri, a cave with the images of Erreddaiah and Paseddaiah and the form of a cow. It was believed that, in the distant past, two bulls born in the village exhibited super natural powers. To perpetuate their memory the villagers deified them and the images of the bulls and their cow were kept in a cave. Even now when the rains fail, the priest takes bath and goes to the cave in his wet clothes to worships 'Avu Devata'. They will offer coconuts, milk, sugar, incense and eatables. It is believed that it generally rains within a week.
Jayanti of Manikya Prabhu
The Jayanti of Manikya Prabhu, the incarnation of Dattatreya, is celebrated for five days in a month of Margasira on a grand scale. It attracts devotees from the neighbouring states of Maharashtra and Karnataka.
