Rayalaseema · Deccan Inland Plateau
Festivals
| Festival | When | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Tirumala Brahmotsavam | Nine days in Kanya masam (September–October) | The temple's principal annual festival, in which the processional images are taken through Tirumala on a different vahanam each day — Garuda day draws the largest crowd of the year by a wide margin. In a leap year with an extra month, the festival is celebrated twice. |
| Ugadi | Chaitra Shuddha Padyami (March–April) | The Telugu new year, opened with ugadi pachadi combining six tastes, and with the panchanga sravanam, a public reading of the coming year's almanac at the temple. |
| Sankranti | Mid-January | Three days of harvest observance — the month of Dhanurmasam preceding it with Haridasu singers and Gangireddu bulls at dawn, muggu drawn at every threshold, ariselu and bakshalu made, and cockfighting in parts of the region despite being illegal. |
| Ontimitta Ramanavami Kalyanam | Chaitra (March–April) | The ceremonial marriage of Rama and Sita performed at Ontimitta, drawing crowds from across the Kadapa basin and now a state-sponsored occasion. |
| Sivaratri at Srisailam and Sri Kalahasti | Magha Bahula Chaturdasi (February–March) | The largest night of the year at both shrines, with the Srisailam approach roads carrying continuous foot traffic through the Nallamala for several days. |
| Ahobilam and Mahanandi jataras | Chaitra and Phalguna (February–April) | Forest and spring shrines that fill for a few days a year and are otherwise quiet. Chenchu participation at Ahobilam is ritually specified rather than incidental. |
| Peerla Panduga | Muharram, lunar | Village Muharram in the Kurnool, Adoni and Kadapa belt, with alams installed, fire pits walked and laments sung in Telugu — carried by mixed custodianship in the same way as on the plateau to the north. |
| Urs at Ameen Peer and Babayya dargahs | Varies by shrine, lunar | Annual death-anniversary observances at Kadapa and Penukonda, attended across communities, with qawwali and a fair attached. |
| Vaikunta Ekadasi | Dhanurmasam (December–January) | The one day the Vaikunta Dwaram is opened at Tirumala and at Vishnu temples across the region. Queues at Tirumala run for many hours and the tokens are issued days ahead. |
| Bandi Utsavam and village goddess jataras | Chiefly February–May, before the rains | Village goddess festivals with a wheeled processional car, animal offering, garaga pot-dancing and a community meal. They cluster in the hottest months, before the sowing season begins. |
The festival calendar of Rayalaseema — what is celebrated, when it falls and what happens. (10)