This folk festival is celebrated grandly at the Tirupati city famous temple of Goddess Gangamma (sister of lord Venkateshwara) called Tataiahgunta Gangamma Temple located on the east side of Tirupati city .
Ganga Jatara, the folk festival of Tirupati, begins with the formal Chatimpu (announcement) around midnight of Tuesday.
Priests performed the initiatory rituals and tied `Vadibalu' to the `Viswaroopa Sthambam' in front of the temple, that set the stage for the fete.
Devotees then clamour around to get the clay smithereens, which they consider as sacred, to be either preserved in the ‘Puja' room or consumed by mixing it in water.
On this day, (Wednesday) people used to smear their body with white color paste (Namam Kommu) and wear a garland made of "Rella kaya" (fruit).
On this day devotees used to smear their body with kumkum color paste and ties a ribbon to the head.
On this day devotees used to smear their body with charcoal and wears a garland made out of neem leaves.
On this day devotees used to smear their body with sandal paste (Chandanam) and wears a garland made out of neem leaves and lemons.
On the sixth day of the festival, the devotees anoint their body with white paste and apply dots with charcoal.
Few Devotees used to have darshan of Gangamma by wearing "Sapparalu" (A special gopuram like object made of bamboo) along with "Dappu Vaidyam" (A musical instrument).
These practices bear testimony to the strong faith the native residents of Tirupati have in the goddess.