Kode Mokkulu Ritual - Ox Offering - Vemulawada Sri Rajarajeswara Swamy Temple

Kode Mokkulu ritual is offering of ox to Shiva at the famous Sri Rajarajeswara Swamy Temple in Vemulawada in Karimnagar District in Telangana. Devotees offer ox to Rajarajeswara Swamy to express their gratitude to Him for fulfilling their desires. Farmers also offer ‘kode mokkulu’ if they have a bumper yield in a particular season. Ox is offered to the Lord as it is the vehicle of Mahadev Shiva. 

Deccan Chronicle reports 

 Devotees who want to offer the ox can purchase tickets priced at either Rs 100 (for normal darshan) or Rs 216 (for Seeghra darshan) and then perform the ritual. 

A laddu is given as prasadam for those offering ‘kode mokku’.
 In addition, around 200 oxen are offered by the farming community every month. A few of them are used for the ritual.

The remaining oxen are donated to Gosamrakshana Federation, a Warangal-based voluntary organisation, which, in turn, distributes it to the poor farmers free of cost. 

A total of 2,500 oxen were given to farmers in the district by the voluntary organisation in the last two years.

“As the ritual involves considerably low expense than any others followed in the temple, Kode Mokku is a major source of income. It is a very old practice being followed in the temple. A sum of `1.5 crore has been spent for taking care of the oxen offered to the Lord, which are given shelter at two places in the temple town of Vemulawada,” said temple EO Ch. V. Krishnaji Rao.