Yatra to Inamanamellur.
On the banks of Gundlakamma river, amidst Guava fruit orchards and blessed by Lord ChennaKeshava is the well-known Inamanamellur village. The village was once well known for its rich Sri Vaishnava traditions; therefore the name of the village has Tamil origin. But presently these traditions are followed more so as obligations. The younger generation is totally apathetic to these traditions. Though situated on the banks of a river the villagers are more focused on agribusiness like tobacco and aquaculture,instead of developing agriculture. Paddy is also a prominent crop. Somehow from over a century guava is grown in abundance in addition to other fruits. As seen in most of the opulent villages the younger generation has settled down in towns and cities, while the large houses in villages are mostly inhabited by elderly people. Village has a mix of traditional houses and concrete structures with all modern amenities.
After the pleasant experience in Gollapalem village in the morning hours of January 14, 2016, the Yatra team arrived in Inamanamellur village to witness a contrastive atmosphere. The youth in Gollapalem village had participated very actively in the program, but here we found the youth in a totally different mood. They were gearing up for a volley ball match that was to commence from 5pm and expected to continue till midnight as a part of sankranthi celebrations. Choosing the right spot for the program was a hard task despite the village being big, the people from one street do not usually visit other streets due to caste constraints and political reasons. Finally after lot of consultations with the locals, we decided to hold the program in the main street near the pedestal where Hanumanji’s 20 feet murthi is installed. Inspite of repeated announcements and having performed harinaam in main streets of the village, people did not turn up even until evening 7.30 pm. We decided to play a few videos and only then people started coming and in no time a decent crowd of over 60 people assembled. The program started by Sripathi prabhu introducing Bhagavad-gita and Krishna consciousness. Later Haridas prabhu spoke about the Holy Name and Ramsharan prabhu about the glories of mother cow. Video on Gau-vaibhavam was also screened. After the pledge to protect mother cow, arathi was performed and prasadam was generously distributed. As we were concluding the program, the village temple utsavamurtis were brought in procession as a part of festival celebrations. Devotees felt that the village temple deities came to bless the Sri Govind Gau Gram Prachar Yatra as a grand finale of the program.
Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=19097
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