South IndiaTemple FestivalYellammaKannada · Karnataka
The Yellamma Devi Jatre is the great pilgrimage fair of Renuka Yellamma, whose hilltop temple at Saundatti in northern Karnataka draws lakhs of devotees from Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa and Andhra-Telangana. The jatre season runs across the full-moon (hunnime) days of the winter months, roughly December to February, when the hill turns yellow with turmeric offered to the goddess.
When: The full-moon (hunnime) days of the winter months, roughly December–February; the largest gathering falls on the hunnime the tradition calls Banada Hunnime
Where: Renuka Yellamma temple, Yellammagudda hill, Saundatti, Belagavi district, Karnataka
Deity: Renuka Yellamma — the sage Jamadagni's wife Renuka, worshipped as the mother goddess
Observance: Hill pilgrimage, turmeric (bhandara) offerings, darshana, vows and family rites at the temple tank
Regional name: Yellammana Jatre · Renuka Devi Jatre (Kannada); Yellamma is also called Renukamba
The story of Renuka Yellamma
Yellamma of Saundatti is Renuka, wife of the sage Jamadagni and mother of Parashurama, the sixth avatara of Vishnu. Tradition holds that Renuka's devotion was so complete that she could carry river water in an unbaked clay pot; the day her concentration wavered, the pot dissolved, and the enraged Jamadagni ordered his sons to behead her. Only Parashurama obeyed — and, granted a boon for his obedience, immediately asked that his mother be restored to life. Restored and later worshipped as a goddess, Renuka became Yellamma, 'mother of all', a fierce yet deeply maternal deity beloved of ordinary farming and labouring families across the Deccan. Her hilltop temple at Saundatti, called Yellammagudda, stands above the Malaprabha valley in Belagavi district, and her worship spreads far beyond Karnataka into Maharashtra, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The jatre on Yellammagudda
The jatre is not a single day but a season. Through the winter months, each full moon brings waves of pilgrims up the hill, with the biggest crowds on the hunnime known in the local tradition as Banada Hunnime. Families arrive on foot and by bullock cart and lorry, bathe at the temple tanks, and offer the goddess her favourite bhandara — turmeric — until the paths, the devotees and the hill itself glow yellow. Jogatis and jogappas, hereditary servants of the goddess, sing her songs with the chowdiki and shruti. The fair around the temple sells bangles, beads, turmeric and images of the devi. Historically, girls were dedicated to Yellamma as devadasis; the practice was outlawed by Karnataka's Devadasi (Prohibition of Dedication) Act of 1982, and government agencies and reform groups have worked since then to end dedications and support former devadasis, though the goddess's worship itself continues undiminished.
Honouring Yellamma from Ottawa & Canada
The jatre belongs to Saundatti's hill, and there is no substitute for standing in that turmeric-coloured crowd. Families in Ottawa with roots in northern Karnataka or the Maharashtra border districts usually keep the connection by phoning family who attend, watching video darshana shared during the hunnime days, and offering a simple home pooja to the goddess — a lamp, haldi-kumkuma, and her names — on the same full-moon evenings. Ottawa's winter full moons fall on the same tithi as India's with only the time-zone offset, so the panchang on this site will show you the right evening. Some families plan India trips so that a visit to Saundatti, often combined with Badami and the Banashankari temple nearby, falls in the jatre season.
Questions
Are Yellamma and Renuka the same goddess?
Yes. Renuka is her puranic name as the wife of sage Jamadagni and mother of Parashurama; Yellamma ('mother of all') is the name by which the Deccan's folk tradition adores her. At Saundatti and in household worship the two names are used interchangeably, and she is also called Renukamba.
Is the devadasi dedication still practised at the jatre?
Dedicating girls to the goddess was banned by Karnataka law in 1982, and enforcement drives during the jatre have made open dedication rare. The issue remains a serious social concern, and organisations continue rehabilitation work with former devadasis. The pilgrimage itself — darshana, turmeric offerings and family vows — is unaffected and remains one of Karnataka's largest.
Source: Living temple tradition of Saundatti, Belagavi district, Karnataka. Regional versions may vary — this text follows the version most widely used in community worship.