Kadalekai Parishe is an annual ‘groundnut
fair’ held in Bangalore. This two-day fair is held near the Dodda Ganesha
Temple in Basavanagudi. Apart from the groundnuts, there are numerous stalls in
the fair. There are a variety of food items on sale during the fair.
History
After the idol was found, in the
year 1537, Kempe Gowda, dedicated a temple to ‘Dodda Basava’ on top of the
Basavanagudi hillock and installed the Idol. This temple is known as Bull
Temple. Ever since, the farmers from surrounding villages come here every year
and offer their annual harvest of groundnut as offering to Lord Basava.
Legend
In the past, Basavanagudi was
surrounded by villages like Sunkenahalli, Guttahalli, Mavalli, Dasarahalli and
other places where groundnut was cultivated. On every full moon day a bull
would charge into the groundnut fields and damage the crop. The farmers then
offered prayers to Basava (Nandi) to stop this and pledged to offer their first
crop.
Subsequently, an Idol of Basava
was found close by. It has been said that, the Idol was growing rapidly, and
the farmers nailed an iron peg on the head of the idol, which is visible in the
form of a trishula even to this date.
Legend says that the night on which this Kadalekai Parishe used to end, Lord
Basavanna - The big Bull, used to come in the animal form and eat up all the
groundnut and peels left overnight on the streets.
Event date
On every year, Kadalekai Parishe, the annual groundnut fair is held on the last Monday of Karthika Masa (month in Hindu calendar - Karnataka version Calendar).