Kameshayas kalammas

Some Andaperna ethnicities have come to the central plane from the mountains, where there were more distinct seasons. One important annual festivity for most is one, that celebrates the arrival of spring. The name kameshayas kalammas means 'gate to spring' and is one of these festivals.

With the climate of the lowlands of Andaperna, especially around The banks of Teknapan and Karet, which circumscribe the very central part of the lowlands only changing between a dry and a wet season, this festival has become obsolete, at least in a strictly religious sense. It is nonetheless still celebrated, albeit more for recreation than for religious reasons. To justify the celebrations, though, the dedication of the festival has shifted to different deities from before.

Many peoples now celebrate the kameshayas kalammas as a festival to close the wet season and prepare for the dry season. The gods adressed are either Dirgut (or Utirakus or Shamkippa in other Andaperna languages), god of the sun, as his season is approaching or Sharshut (or Kuwantas or Vata), god of the wind, as the wind carries dirt away. Part of the festivity is the cleaning of the house, tools and appliances.

Also a light beer is especially brewed for this festival and drunk in the evening after the cleaning is done. This beer is called by different names, depending on the respective language. One name most know is shebush or shebus. It is seasoned with mint, to make it more refreshing. This is either to fit to the freshness perceived through the cleaning of house and goods or as a wish for fresh breezes during hot dry season.

The significance of the festival has dwindled, as in the valley, the people face different challenges from what they dealt with in the mountains. This is why the dedication to a certain deity had to be changed from a spring or fertility deity to one of the deities more relevant in the lowlands with their different annual cycle. Nonetheless the festival survived, but is nowadays imbued with more individuality, as one defining part of it is the care for ones surroundings and possessions. The new gods associated with the festival get a small sacrifice by the people and in the temples, but there is no centralised and public ritual conducted by the temples and obligatory for the people to attend to, although the small sacrifices can be offered in the temple, if one wants to. Otherwise sacrifices are offered at home, spilling shebus around the house.