VMJ Travels - Festival's

The Festivals Of Kerala

The colorful mosaic of Kerala festivals and fairs is as diverse as the land, is an expression of the spirit of celebration, that is an essential part of the State. Observed with enthusiasm and gaiety, festivals are like gems, ornamenting the crown of Kerala tradition and culture. Round the year the fests keep Kerala life vibrant and interludes in the mundane affairs of life.

Every season turns up new festivals, each a true celebration of the bounties of nature. The festivals exhibits an eternal harmony of spirit. Packed with fun and excitement, festivals are occasions to clean and decorate houses, to get together with friends and relatives and to exchange gifts.

New attire, dance, music and ritual, all add to their joyful rhythm. It is a time for prayer, for pageantry and processions.....a time to rejoice.

Chittur Konganpada (War Festival)

Kerala, once a land of small kingdoms, had witnessed several pitched battles. Few in the state commemorate the war victories of their forefathers. However, people of Chittor in Palakkad district had assimilated a story of triumph into their cultural veins and in every February (on first Monday after the dark lunar in Kumbam, Malayalam calendar) they remember a war they had fought and won; Konganpada, the only war festival in the state. The history of this festival is interwoven with myths.

Konganpada recollects a war the Chittor Nairs fought against King Rajadhi Raja of Kong dynast from Coimbathore in which the former won. Chittorians believe that Goddess Bhagavathy saved them from the Chola King.

(According to historical version Kings of Kongu attacked Palakkad and the King of Kochin with the help of Zamorins defeated them. and Konganpada is being celebrated to keep alive that great victory. The festival begins with chilambu; recalling Konganpada’s declaration of the war and a perturbed Chittor people thronging the Goddess Bhagavathy pleading to save them from the ordeal. Next morning a flag is hoisted indicating their readiness for the war.

When dusk falls, people gather near the temple premise ands after three popgun shots march to a place supposed to be the battleground. Oracle leads the procession while others hold torches. At midnight the procession returns from the battleground.

Next morning procession resumes from a nearby kavu, this time with colour and festivity. Girls are being paraded in men’s wear (kolam) on the ground that the Goddess encountered the Konganpada in man’s robs. Cultural programmes are also staged in the pageant. In the evening the procession encircles the temple and a messenger from Konganpada reads scroll declaring the war.

About 10pm Kongan appears and the symbolic war begins. Rival groups run the horses to and fro to recreate a battlefield- like situation. After this Kongan team retreats. A few persons feign death whose bodies are being taken back to their wailing relatives. Later the festival ends with an hour-long percussion. This may be one of the bizarre festivals in the state.

Maramon Convention

The largest Convention in Asia, Maramon is held on the sands of River Pampa, at Kozhancheri, near Tiruvalla in Pathanamthitta district. Every year tens of thousands of Christians attend the convention to hear the Word of God and seek His grace. Erudite orators from various countries address the 10-day long convention. Of the years Maramon has become a meeting place of culture and tradition.Maramon is also famous as the birthplace of Palakkunnath Abraham Maplah, a 19th century leader of the Syrian Church of Malabar.Preaching and Bible studies occupy the major part of the conference Along with the religious discourse, special prayers for indisposed are also held.

Nellikulangara Vallanghi Vela

A festival unfurling the cultural faces of Palakkad villages which are still under Tamil sway. The festival at the Bhagavathi temple at Vallanghi in Chittur is in fact a competition between two villages-Vallangi and Nenmara- to propitiate the Goddess. Both villages, in their effort to excel the other leave no stone unturned. The main festival is on 20th Meenam (March-April).One of the attractions is the grand procession carrying the image of Bhagavathi on bedecked elephant escorted by the temple oracle, and devotees.

The competition spirit of the villagers goes up every year. So is the pomp and pageantry of the festival. The flag-hoisting ceremony is held jointly by the Vallanghi and Nenmara on the 9th Meenam, 11 days prior to the festival. During the festival days art forms such as Kummatti, Karivela and Andivelaare staged. The festival is a rare occasion to see the dying folk art forms of the state.

Thiruvaathira Festival

The festival falls on the asterism Thiruvathira in the Malayalam month of Dhanu (December-January). On thiruvathira morning, devotees throng Shiva temples for an early worship which is reckoned as highly auspicious.

Tradition says thiruvathira is celebrating the death of Kamadeva, the mythological God of Love. According to another version, Thiruvathira is the birthday of Lord Shiva. The festival has similarities to adra darshan celebrated in Tamil Nadu.

On the festival day, women discard rice meal, but only take preparations of chama (panicum miliaceum) or wheat. The day's menu include plantain fruits and tender coconuts. They chew betel and redden their lips. A custom that women should chew 108 betel on the day had prevailed among Namboodiris, Ambalavasis (temple-servants) and Nairs ( all Hindu communities). The first thiruvathira after the marriage of a girl is known as puthenthiruvathira or poothiruvathira( new thiruvathira). Oonjalattom, (swinging on an oonjal (swing) is another amusement women engage themselves with. During the chilly night, women keep vigil for God Shiva and stage Thiruvathirakali, a bewitching dance form.

Pretty girls in traditional attire circle around a lighted brass lamp, and step to the rhythm of the songs they sing, clapping their hands.

Pathirappoochoodal,( wearing of flowers at midnight) is still prevalent among women belonging to Namboodiri, Ambalavasis (temple servants) and Nair communities.

That thiruvathira is still being celebrated with pomp vouch for the enviable position Kerala women enjoyed in the society. The status she occupied at home and in the society had influenced the state's social structure, customs and religious practices.

Oaachira Kettukazhcha

Oachira, near Kayamkulam, has emblazoned its name in the chronicle of war. Battle of Kayamkulam, a watershed event in the history of Travancore, was fought between Marthandavarma, the Maharaja of Travancore and Raja of Kayamkulam. Oachirakkali, commemorating the war,' is conducted in the beginning of Mithunam (June-July) every year.

Nilamperoor Padayani

A festival that reflects the tradition and the culture of rural Kerala, Padayani is being held at Nilamperoor Bhagavathikkavu at Kuttanad in Alapuzha. Kolamkettu (making of effigies) and Kollamthullal (a ritual dance performed by carrying the effigies) are the main attractions of the festival. The chief kolams displayed are of Shiva, Bhima and Ravana. The 16-day festival begins on Thiruvonam day in Chingam (August-September) and ends on Pooram day, the main day in the festival. In Ezhunnellippu, a procession carrying the Kolams (deities)-another event of the festival- idols along with effigies of swans are being carried to the festival ground amid vociferous clamour and outcries from the throng. The tempo of the festival touches its peak with dazzling pyrotechnics. The kolams are brought before the Kavu and after some rites kept in its corner.

Kerala Village Fair

Every year, for the lush villages around Kovalam, mid January is the time for cultural events. The traditional thatched houses are decorated during the ten- day festival. The fair becomes a single window for selling Kerala artifacts. The fair nights ladle out folk dances, music and cultural programmes.

Kalapathy Chariot Festival ( Ratholsav )

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Celebrated in the second week of every November. During the festival season, the Vishwanatha temple and the agraharas (traditional houses) of settler Tamil Brahmins at Kalpathy village will submerge in a sea of devotees. The religious fervour will reach its crescendo when the Brahmins carry the rathams to the temple premise, an age-old ritual that is gaining popularity with every passing year. Five major rathams (car, chariot) are being dragged in the flamboyant procession accompanied by caparisoned elephants and percussion. The script chanting Vedic scholars maintain the religious tempo of the festival. Residents of each agrahara here have their own rathams.

Historians reason that the festival is older than Thirssure pooram, initiated by Sakthan Thampuran. Myths are woven around the history of the festival. One among them say, a Palakkad lady, who had sacrificed material pleasures for worshipping Lord Shiva, left for Kasi Vishwanatha temple. She, it is believed, returned years later with an idol of God Shiva and met the then Palakkad King and requested him to install the idol at the Vishwanatha temple at Kalpathy.

She also believed to have given gold coins to the King to meet the expense of daily poojas, and requested to celebrate the temple festival every year on the lines of the car festival at Mayuram temples in Tamil Nadu.

Ratham, mad of wood, is a tower having the height of a three-storied building. Carved rathams have sculptures reminiscent of the Shivaleelas and Vishnuleelas, depicted on the walls of the Chidambarum and Avinashi temples of Tamil Nadu. The festival is also seen an attempt of the Tamil Brahmins to preserve their cultural identity.

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