Babbalo
was a powerful wizard who was often called upon by people in distress to ward
them off evil spells, spirits and demons using his prowess and knowledge of
ancient Vedic rituals. He would cross the
The
following link will take you to his individual page in our family tree. Please
click here.
He
would often deal with Spirits (or Daivas) worshipped
by the Tuluvas too. One such spirit, called Mundathaiya (Also known as Shri Vaidyanatha), worshipped by Tuluvas
as well as GSBs had an axe to grind with him,
specifically because Babbalo was an ardent devotee of
Shri Tirumala Venkatramana Swamy and had no
allegiance to Mundathaiya. Babbalo
had, in fact, on multiple occasions warned Mundaithaya
of his arrogance. (There is a shrine for Mundathaiya at Bhoota Oni (
Since
some GSBs of the town worshipped and owed their
allegiance to Mundathaiya, Mundathaiya
soon started yearning for control over the town, neglecting the divine presence
of Shri Venkatramana.
Mundathaiya started frequenting the vicinity of the temple during his Valasari (A ritual wherein the spirit possesses an
elaborately costumed person and wanders along town) much to Babbalo’s
dislike.
During
one such procession, he confronted Mundathaiya and
warned him against violating the sanctity of the temple. Mundathaiya
ignored him and started towards the temple. Babbalo
struck Mundathaiya on the foot with his bamboo staff
(Nagarabettha), causing Mundathaiya
to permanently limp thereafter. (To this
day, Mundathaiya limps during the annual Kola dance.
and has come to be known as ”Chotto
Mundathaiya” (“Mundathaiya
with a limp”).
As
a fallout of this incident, the bhootas (Spirits)
were constantly on the lookout for ways to outwit Babbalo
and bring about his downfall, but were no match for his wizardry and prowess.
Babbalo
cautioned his family against such spirits and advised his wife to be on her
guard as the spirits could even take his form or imitate his voice to gain
entry into their home and thus defile their sanctity.
During
one such night, one Bhoota called upon Babbale’s wife. When Babbale’s
wife did not respond to the Bhoota knocking at the
door, the Bhoota tried calling out to her imitating Babbalo’s voice. His wife remained unmoved. Then, the Bhoota tried to convince her that he is indeed Babbalo by pretending that he had forgotten his Panchaang (Vedik Almanac) at
home, and had returned to collect it for the night’s work. The Bhoota then asked her to pick it up for him from the ledge
where Babbalo used to usually store his sacred texts,
among other things. Babbale’s
wife checks to find that the Almanac was indeed at home, and assumes that it is
indeed her husband at the door. In her hurry, she fails to realize that the
Almanac she was looking at was of the previous year.
When
she opens the door to hand the Almanac over to the Bhoota,
disguised as Babbalo, the Bhoota
drops it on the floor and asks her to pick it up for him. When she bends to
pick it up, as is usual with evil spirits, the Bhoota
strikes her on the back.
Around
this time, Babbalo is on his way across the river,
astride a plantain leaf. Since Babbalo’s wife dies,
his powers fail as he enters an impure condition (‘Sootaka’).
Babbalo loses control over his powers and drowns in
the river. Although he dies, his spirit returns to protect the sanctity of the
town against evil spirits.
Several
years later, Babbalo faded away from the memory of
the townsfolk.. Women wearing Crossandra
or Fire Cracker flowers (“Abbale”) and red sarees,
were found fainting for no obvious reason when walking in front of Ashwatha Tree near the
On
further inquisition, priests realized that Babbalo
used to frequent the Ashwatha tree in front of the
temple, and he could be directing his rage at the townsfolk this way. They
subsequently found a way around Babbale’s rage by
restraining him to the Ashwatha tree by hitting a
nail (khare ani). This also
helped confine his rage to evil spirits instead of to the townsfolk.
Thus
the Ashwatha and the Katte
have been since come to be known as Babbale Katte. (The Ashwatha tree has fallen down during the last monsoon for a
heavy rain. A new sapling has been planted in its place.)
Down
the years, it has become a tradition for members of the Baliga
family to offer coconuts at the Katte on auspicious
occasions (Shubh Karya)
such as Munji, Marriage etc.
Babbalo
has been known to show his displeasure whenever any Baliga
Family member does not acknowledge his faith to him. If a cow yields milk, at
home and if family has not made any offerings to Babbalo,
the cow would produce blood instead of milk.
If offerings were not made after a Munji, the Vattu has known to turn mad within a few days.
Even
now Bantwal Baliga Family
members make offerings of coconut to the Babbale Katte whenever there is a Shubh Karya in the family, and you can consult the priest at the Kashi Math in front of the temple on the specifics of the
ritual.