Chaitramasa Festival- Kochi Tirumala Devaswom temple

Continuing my post on Kochi Tirumala Devaswom temple I would like to take you through few glimpses of the Chaitra masa Festival held this March  which I was fortunate enough to attend..

 The Aaratt ( festival) is  for  8 days and it starts with the flag hoisting ceremony. Every temple has a dwajasthambha but in this temple a flag pole,( stem of an arecanut tree) is erected on the  first day and a flag with Garuda as the emblem is hoisted reciting Vedas.On all days there is  Seeveli (Procession carrying the deity on elephant accompanied by percussion instruments)  in the morning and evening and the temple gets crowded  with devotees.. Mahaprasad(Feast) is served to the devotees and it is known as samaradhana. Samaradhana  means all are considered equal here and every body sits together and partakes the Mahaprasad provided by the temple. The food is served on banana leaves and devotees sit on the floor for this. Enthusiastic youngsters vie with each other to serve food as they feel it is equal to serving the  God Himself. The process starts with a kadina (fire cracker) and ends with the same. The whole process is completed with in half an hour and it is really a sight to see this samaradhana as more than ten thousand people are fed in this short period.

There are Yagnas for the welfare of the humanity and for peace These are conducted in the afternoons and evenings. The Lord Venkatachalapathy is taken around the temple in his golden palanquin.There are also vahana poojas i.e the deity is  worshipped on different mounts like Hanuman, Aswa (Horse), Aadisesha,( serpent God) Surya( Sun ) and Chandra ,( Moon) Airavata the elephant)  Garuda (The Eagle).etc.

From fourth day onwards the Lord starts visiting the house holds of His devotees and blesses them..He is taken   around the temple streets and devotees welcome Him with fruits, flowers and various offerings they can afford. The grand procession carrying the deity comprises of priests, people carrying torches and lights, symbolic arms for protection, flag bearers , group of people playing on the drums-  Pancha Vadyam and the majestic elephant in the lead.   The seventh day is called as Nayattu  ( Mrigaya,- royal hunt)and God ,Goddess and the Chakra are brought in Aswa, Surya and Chandra Vahanas. The Lord visits the nearby Udyaneshwara temple where  Nayattu takes place.The Visits go on till the  eighth day .

The last day thousands converge in this temple and seek the Lord's blessings. Avabrata snanam (abhishekam) is performed for  the main deity of Venkatachlapathy .  After that the Utsava Moorthy and the Sudarshana Chakra of the deity leave for the temple pond in  a grand procession .Then deity  is taken around in a decorated float and then the Chakra is  given a Holy bath by the priest.  The deity is kept in the mandapam there till the evening and  after that the  Samaradhana takes place. In the evening the deity comes out in a palanquin goes around the pond with the accompaniment of Seeveli and reaches the  temple . Fire works  are a part of this evening ritual.  After that the Garuda vahana pooja takes place. The deity sitting atop the Garuda, blesses all his devotees and special aarti know as Khamba aarti is offered to the God. This Pooja goes on  till 2-3 a.m the next day. By around  6 clock in the  morning the flag is brought down which marks the culmination of the aaratt.

There are two aaratts in a year in this temple , one in March- April and the other one in November- December. The Gowda Saraswath Community scattered around the world try to come back to their roots to participate in this grand occasion which is a socio -religious affair .In fact many marriages get finalised during these eight days and it is really a treat to see boys and girls of marriageable age come decked up with new attractive attires of various hues and colours.

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I would like to acknowledge  S. Krishna Kumar Pai, Kochi for his photographs on float festival and the Holy bath. As seeing is believing I have a few photographs for your viewing. 

Kerala temple festival - Tripunithura

I thought a short break from Tamil Nadu would be good though I have lined up a few temples to post about. My recent trip to Kerala was an unforgettable one, especially as I landed there on a festival day .Temples in Kerala are simple unlike Tamil Nadu temples which is famous for its carvings and sculptures. In Kerala The dwaja sthambha and deepa sthambha are given lot of importance. The height of the dwaja or flag post also depends on how powerful the deity is. The idols in Kerala temples are smaller in size compared to the ones in Tamil Nadu. Sanctity of the temples are maintained well and most of the temples do follow a dress code.

This time I am taking you to Lord Ayyapa's temple situated at Tamarakulangara in Tripunithura which is just an extension of Kochi town itself . I have already written a post on Poornathrayesa temple belonging to the same place. Lord Ayappa, is the son of Siva and Vishnu when the latter assumed the form of Mohini to retrieve the Amrita Kumbha from Asuras.

November-April is the festival season and I thought I would take you through one which I have seen recently. Elephants are indispensable for festivals here and the deity is carried atop the caparisoned elephants with the accompaniments of colorful parasols, Peacock feather fans, called Aalvattom and Venchamaram made of fur from yak tails. Pandi Melam is an orchestra of percussion instruments, trumpet and Cymbals which adds the necessary rhythm and charm to the elephant procession. This procession is called Seeveli. It is really a fantastic spectacle. People sway to the rhythm of the percussion instruments and the Seeveli lasts about 2-3 hours. The festival ends with colourful display of fireworks and a feast subsequently to all the devotees. Kadina is a traditional fire cracker which is used during the worship. A series of Kadinas are used during the worship during the festival. See the photos of Kadina . Para Nirakkal is another custom followed in the temples. The devotees offer paddy, sugar, jaggery, or flaked rice to the deity and for this a special vessel resembling a measure known as Para is kept in front of the deity and the devotees fill it with their offerings.

Enjoy the festival.

Picture 1, 2, 3 The temple decorations 4 &5 Seeveli, 6 deity atop the elephant,7,8,9 Paddy and puffed padyy and para nirakkal 10 seeveli, 11 flags,indicating festival, 12. Kadina, 13 dwajasthambham, flag hoisted.

Poornatharayeesa temple - Trippunithura

This time I am taking you to Kerala, the place I was born and brought up. It is known as God's own country. This state also abounds in temples, some of which are over 1000 years old. Kerala is famous for its picturesque landscape, lagoons, beaches, hill stations and Asia’s first synagogue (Shall write about the same later ) and few monuments which has made this place a haven for tourists. Here I am going to start with a temple in a locality, where I have lived for about 7 years and used to visit daily. The place is Trippunithura situated in Ernakulam district.

The temple architecture is different from the ones that we see in Tamilnadu.

Poornathrayeesa temple

The presiding deity is Mahavishnu and this temple was constructed by the erstwhile rulers of Tripunithura which was the seat of royalty. Even to day we find many palatial buildings here. The temple is very big and the idol is sitting on the serpent God Ananthan whose hood serves as a canopy for the Lord. The deity here looks magnificent with his right leg folded at knees and perched on the seat and left leg hanging down. He carries conch and discuss in two hands and the third hand holds a lotus and fourth hand is resting on the seat. The sanctum sanctorum is circular in shape and on the South side there is a shrine for Ganapathy (Vinayagar). Facing West side is the shrine for Ananthan. The door of this shrine always remains closed and the idol can be viewed through a small slit in the wall. A lamp always glows inside here round the clock called as keda vilaku, meaning a lamp that keeps glowing always. Excellent brass idols of Gods moulded to artistic perfection line the circular walls of the temple.


Kerala temples give so much importance for cleanliness and the temple precincts are always kept clean. The area of temple is around 5 acres and it is always frequented by the tourists and the locals as well. There are view galleries on the south and west side side, these were meant for the members of the royal family where they used to assemble in large number during the festival to watch and listen to the various art and classical performances.


The custom in Kerala temples here, the devotees are expected to wear traditional Kerala costumes. Men are expected to wear dhoti and angavastram and women, saris or chudidhars. Western clothes are not allowed. Some temples allow men to wear trousers but expect them to remove shirts and vests while entering the restricted prakarams. The devotees who do not want to follow these customs are allowed to worship the deity from the outer most prakaram. It is recommended that people travelling to Kerala on pilgrimage keep this in mind.

There are many oil lamps here big and small, which always glow and the devotees ensure the replenishment of the oil by regular offerings. The wall of the outer prakaram is fully is lined with columns of lamps and a tall deepa sthambham (multi layered lamp post) in front of the temple which are lit up during the temple festivals.

There is a huge Peepal tree in front of the temple and a Sivalinga on a pedestal below the tree. The flag mast is very tall and considered to be tallest in these parts of Kerala. There is a pond inside the temple itself and it is not uncommon to find one or two elephants inside the temple as the deity here is a lover of the same.

There 2 main festivals here, one during the Onam, the harvest festival of Kerala and the other in November which lasts for about 8 days. This festival in November draws huge crowd here and the whole town gears up days before the commencement of the festival. The main roads leading to temple get decorated with festoons, arches and illumination. Shops spring up on either side of the road and it resembles a village fare.

The main attraction for the festival is the Seeveli, it’s a procession of caparisoned elephants carrying the idol atop. At least 11 -15 elephants get lined up for this and it is really a spectacular show where young and old participate with enthusiasm and sway to the accompaniments of percussion instruments; the ensemble called as panchari melam. The colourful parasoles held atop the elephants add charm and brightness to the whole atmosphere.

Yet another festival is the ambalmkathi festival (ambalam= temple, kathi = caught fire, in Malayalam) in remembrance of a fire that engulfed the temple years ago. On that day the whole temple would be lighted with lamps and heaps of camphor around the temple.

Even for daily poojas carrying the deity on an elephant is part of the custom here. The idol that is used for these rituals is the utsavar. Devotees accompany these seeveli chanting the name of Lord and participate in the worship there after.

The abode of Mahavishnu here is considered to be an important holy place for the Hindus and it is believed that the deity here was installed by Arjuna one of the Pancha Pandava brothers. He consecrated the temple here and lit the lamp by crushing gingely seeds from a near by plant and from that day lighting the lamps with gingely oil came into vogue.

Poornathrayeesa is also known as Santhana Gopala here and child less, aspiring couples offer their prayers here in the belief that God will bless them with children. This temple is situated on the shores of river Poorna hence the place takes its name Trippunithura.

The birth star of God is Uthram and on this day thousands of devotees throng the temple and about 35000 participate in the annadanam. (Free meals) . In the evening there is a ceremony called Lakshmi Narayana Vilakku and God's sister from the nearby Pishari temple is brought here. The main deity of Poornathrayeesa is always adorned with garland of lotus flowers and tulsi. (Basil leaves).

When ever I go to Tripunithura I never miss a chance to visit this temple as I like the atmosphere very much. The effulgence emanating from the sanctum sanctorum is difficult to be expressed in words. The vision always lingers in the mind.

The temple timings are 3.45 am -11.am, 4 p.m-8.30 pm

How to reach:
Tripunithura is 10 Kms from Ernakulam Junction. Frequent buses ply from the town to this place. This place is an extended part of Ernakulam itself.
The nearest airport is Nedumbassery which is 30 Kms, from Tripunithura.

Accommodation: Luxury, deluxe and budget hotels are available in Kochi which is the new name for Ernakulum and Cochin twin cities.