Jokali Aadona Bannire

Naga Panchami, first festival of Sharavana Maasa is celebrated worshipping the serpent God. People worship snakes by offering them milk. This festival is usually celebrated with great fervor in the northern Karnataka region. There are two main attractions among the celebrations of this festival, one is the “jokali” or the swing and the other, the “undi” (laddus) and hence this festival is also known as “jokali habba” especially in rural areas and “undi habba” in some other places. It is believed that the “jokali” (swing) provided a perfect place for women, especially the newly married, to share their feelings with their friends. Swings are seen everywhere during the festival especially in villages and rural areas. You can see young girls competing with each other on the swings. Naga Panchami has come to be known as a festival mainly for the women. The other attraction of the festival is the “undi” or “thambitttu”. Many varieties of mouth-watering laddus are prepared from roasted channa dal, fried peanuts, sesame, sooji, rice, coocnut and jaggery and they are a signature delicacy of this festival. This particular folk song is by saint-poet Shishunala Sharifa on the significance of “jokali” in one’s life. Santa Shishunala Sharifa was a philosopher and social reformer in the 19th century. He has written many moral poems in Kannada. My sincere thanks to Latha Ganti for this wonderful collaboration.

Title: Jokali Aadona Bannire (Kannada Janapada Geethe) Lyrics: Santha Shishunala Sharifa Music: Yashwantha Halibandi Sung By: Sarada & Latha