“A concerted effort to preserve our heritage is a vital link to our cultural, educational, aesthetic, inspirational and economic legacies - all of the things that quite literally make us who we are.” Steve Berry
Traditions are our security for our future and future generations. Age-old traditions established over so many years have so much history and life experiences. Traditions did not develop in vacuum. Traditions are the product of years of accumulated knowledge passed on to the next generation. We must learn about richness of our culture, appreciate it, acknowledge it and practice it in order to preserve our common eternal heritage. Our future is shaped by the preservation of our culture and traditions. A country is defined by its culture. 
We are very fortunate to participate in this unique tradition of organizing Jatara in Kandi Village near Sanga Reddy in Telangana.  The 5-day Jatara is being organized for more than 200 years. In fact, it is being organized by the Deshmukh family who also built Sri Pandu Ranga Temple in the village. They have been managing the Temple over all these years. All the plans to take over the Temple by the government were averted.
    On the first day the procession started from Panduranga Temple with dances and singing and reached specially decorated Mantapam. It is gratifying to see the tradition for so many years.
    On the second day, they performed Panduranga – Rukmini Kalyanam in Sri Panduranga Temple that attracted more than thousand people. In the evening, Hanuman Sewa was done by taking a precession from the Temple to the Mantapam with dances and singing Bhajans. 
    On the third day, Garuda Sewa was done by organizing a big procession followed by singing and dancing by Sishumandir students. Also, many ladies participated in the festival. On this day, Laddu Prasadam was offered to Sri Panduranga and then proceeded to the Mantapam where few people climbed on to the roof top and started throwing the packed Laddus to the people gathered as per tradition. 
    My wife who is from the Deshmukh family and I took this opportunity to attend the Jatara festival. Annadanam is a regular feature. It is heartwarming to personal witness this Jatana where Deshmukh family still continuing this tradition with passion and gusto. They have committed to ensure that all the villagers are invited to attend the function making all the children to participate in various programs. Their commitment to keep our tradition intact and continue to unite the villagers is laudable.