Valasa Devarlu | 11 Jun 2019

Valasa Devarlu is an age-old rural festival, celebrated in the number of villages of Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh.
It is a traditional ritual, dating back to the reign of emperor Srikrishna Devarayalu or Krishna devaraya.
It is celebrated in the face of drought conditions. When only a few weeks left for the sowing season to close.
During the failure of rains, crops failure and breakout of epidemics, the entire population of a village would abandon the households at dawn and retreat into the fields or tank bunds till dusk.
The village elders would initiate special pujas to the goddess ‘Valasa Devaramma’, an idol made of clay, consecrated under a tent or a tree. After having community lunch, the population would return to their village. The time is marked by dancing, singing and chit-chatting.
The male members of the families offered prayers at the famous Gangamma temple atop Boyakonda hillock nearby, followed by animal sacrifice.

Krishna devaraya

He was a prominent ruler of the Vijayanagara Empire of South India. As the third ruler of the Tuluva Dynasty of the Vijayanagara Empire, he extended the empire to most of South India, which included present-day Karnataka, Northern Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, stretching upwards in the northeast to Cuttack.
He ascended the throne during the most critical stage of the empire and went on to consolidate it as a flourishing empire. He played a major role in defeating the Bahmani Sultans and Portuguese, forcing them to retreat their plans of expanding their empire beyond their boundaries.