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ARATTU
at THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
(Sree Padmanabha Temple)
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Aratt festival is the closing ceremony of
the ten day festival in the Lord Padmanabha
temple at Thiruvananthapuram. There are two
such festivals every year, one in the Malayalam
month of Thulam (October-November) and the
other in Meenam (March-April). The Arattu
is a ceremonial procession of the Lord at
the close of the ten-day-festival. The previous
night, there is a procession called pallivetta
inside the fort encircling the temple.
On the day of the Arattu, His Highness the
Ex-Maharaja enters the corridor of the temple,
and after some rituals, the procession takes
out through the eastern gate with the accompaniment
of nagaswaram, drum etc. His Highness with
sword in hand and escorted by armed guards,
infantry, mounted police, officers etc. leads
the procession to the Sanghumugham beach.
A caparisoned elephant goes in front with
drum on its back which is beaten to indicate
that the God is coming in procession. Six
more caparisoned elephants follow. The procession
leaves the temple gate at about 5 PM and takes
about an hour to reach the seashore. As the
procession leaves the ramparts of the fort,
a salute of 21 guns is made. On reaching the
beach the ceremonial bath is taken in the
sea.
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AMBALAPUZHA
ARATTU
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The Sree Krishnaswamy temple at Ambalapuzha
dedicated to Parthasarathy was established
by the Chembakasserry Pooradam Thirunal-Devanarayanan
Thampuran in the year 790 M.E. He offered
his state to Sree Krishna and ruled the country
as his regent after assuming the name of Deva
Narayana. The Arattu festival of this temple
commences with the flag hoisting ceremony
on the Atham day in Meenam (March-April).
The important Arattu Utsavam, however, takes
place on the Thiruvonam day in Meenam. The
famous Ambalapuzha Palpayasam (a milk pudding
of exceptional sweetness) is the important
offering of this temple.
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ARANMULA
UTHRITTATHI
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For ages, Keralites have cherished a reverential
attitude to rivers. When the weather becomes
delightfully pleasant it is time for Keralites
to hold the Jalotsavam (water - carnivals).
The boat race is symbolic of the Jalotsavams
in Kerala. The most famous is the Aranmula
Snake Boat Race conducted on the Uthrittathi
day of Chingom (August-September). On Thiruvonam
day in Chingom when the national festival
of Onam begins in Kerala, Aranmula, a village
in Chengannur taluk, is unusually cheerful
and celebratory.
The famous snake boat carnival on the Pampa
held annually at Aranmula on the day of Uthrittathi
asterism in connection with the Onam festival
is to commemorate the crossing of the river
by Lord Krishna on that day. The deity is
supposed to be in all the boats that take
part in the carnival and all of them are expected
to arrive at their destination simultaneously.
There is thus no element of competition in
the Aranmula Boat Race as in other regattas
held in this district and elsewhere. The race
is not conducted to win any trophy or prize.
The crew regard the occasion as one for rejoicing
and merry-making and cheerfully row up and
down the river to the tune of songs. Even
though the festival is of Hindu origin and
is associated with the Parthasarathy Temple,
it is an all-community affair and participants
include members of all classes and communities
living in and around Aranmula. The festival
is now being organised under the auspices
of the Palli Oda Seva Sangham, a popular organisation
of the boat owners. It constitutes a national
festival for the people of Central Travancore
and special boats and buses ply to carry the
people to witness the event. During the races,
the banks of the river on either side, for
a distance of about three kilometers, would
be thronged with thousands. In recent years,
the festival attracts spectators from all
parts of the country and from abroad. The
Valla sadya is an important vazhipadu (offering)
in the temple on this occasion.
The snake boats at the Aranmula regatta present
an enchanting as well as imposing spectacle.
They are of extraordinary shape. About 100
ft. long, the end of the boat is curving upwards
with the front portion tapering gradually.
The rear portion would be towering to a height
of about 20 feet. The boats resemble snakes
with their hoods raised. A 150 - crew including
oarsmen, singers and ruddermen man each boat
which is gaily decorated for the occasion.
The occupants carry banners and ornamental
umbrellas of silk and gold. It is doubtful
whether there is any other national festival
resplendent with such an aura of spiritual
devotion, endearing friendship, sportsman
spirit, majesty and rapturous delight as the
Aranmula boat race. Similar Snake-boat races
are organised at Champakkulam and Paippadu
in Kuttanad, the rice bowl of Kerala, during
the Onam days. .
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ASHTAMI
at VAIKOM
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The Mahadeva Temple at Vaikom is one of the
most famous and oldest Siva temples in Kerala.
The utsavam in this temple is celebrated for
twelve days during the dark lunar fortnight
of Vrischikam, (November-December) the Ashtami
falling on the last day. During the night
on the Ashtami day the deities of the neighbouring
temples will be ceremoniously brought in procession
to this temple.
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