Kurnool: The annual Banni Utsavam at Devaragattu village in Kurnool district witnessed a violent fight , where more than 60 people were injured in a stick fight on Tuesday. Four of them are reported to be in a critical condition and have been taken to the government hospital at Adoni.

As per tradition, people from 11 villages around Devaragattu gather to participate in the annual Banni Utsavam on the last day of Dusshera and indulge in a battle of sticks for the idols of Mallamaleswara Swamy. The villages were split into two groups and beat each other with sticks to gain access to the idols. The police immediately rushed to the scene and brought the situation under control.

District Superintendent of Police (SP) Dr Fakkeerappa Kaginelli had earlier appealed to the people of Devaragattu village to conduct the Dussera festival in a peaceful manner. The police department had taken security measures by deploying more than 1,000 personnel to control the crowds and prevent violence during Banni festival on October eighth.

Drones and CCTV cameras were also used to keep a check,but that did not deter the villagers from playing the traditional ritual. It is reported that more than one lakh people had come to witness the festival and despite the number of injured increasing from 35 persons last year to 60 this year, the festival went off peacefully.

The Mallamaleswara Swamy Kalyana Utsavam is celebrated in the Devaragattu village, where the deities are taken between the hillocks in the middle of the night and people from the villages compete for the statues. The men go on playing their sticks indiscriminately on each other until they get the idols.

However, the bloodshed continues to happen every year in the name of the lord and despite the police imposing a ban, the blood-sport tradition still continues.

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