Our local temple festival concluded a few days before. Our family deity is Bhadrakali Maa. She is also the protector of the village. Every year, people from all over the state who have connections with the temple visit to partake in the festival.
Days before the festival begins, preparations are done to clean the place and festoons are hung. Devotees offer money and sometimes groceries for the daily feast and all those who visit the temple are given free food both in the afternoon and night.
Usually, only one priest performs the worship, but for the festival, other priests are invited to perform special pujas or worship. There are several programs conducted in connection with the festival. The kalam ezhuthu and pattu are performed daily to appease the deity. After that, cultural programs are also conducted in the temple premises. The usual ones include songs, dance programs, dramas, authentic Kerala art forms such as ottam thullal and chakyar koothu etc, Women of all ages perform the mega Thiruvathira dance.
Such programs help to keep the culture alive and pass it on to the next generations. It also provides a means of livelihood to artists as they can earn from gigs all over the state. The unique thing about Kerala is that no matter the religion, people contribute towards such programs directly or indirectly and also earn handsomely.
Elephants are not part of this particular temple. Elephants are usually paraded in some other temples and there have been cases where people are hurt or killed because an elephant ran amok. So, there are pleas to remove the animals but I am not sure what will come of it. As you all know, the bull run in Tamil Nadu was under legal trouble but in the end, tradition won.
On the main day of the festival, the Desa Guruthy is conducted for the good of the village and the people. It is a special Puja. After that, the unique temple art form known as Mudiyettu is conducted. Special performers enact a play showing how the goddess defeats the evil demon. It is very interesting to watch. People sit till the wee hours of the morning to witness this. In earlier years, the audience used to huddle together at night to watch it but nowadays, there are lights all over the place and no one needs to fear stray or wild animals. Also, the number of people who attend it has increased a lot.
I am including a video of the performance. Please watch it if you have time.
Kerala is a unique land and no matter who rules the state, it will always belong to the people first and no one can destroy the culture or unity as was proved during the floods when not many politicians showed up but the youngsters gathered around and saved thousands of lives.
Nowadays, a lot of young ones are falling prey to drug abuse because the one way to destroy a nation is to attack the young population. I just hope that the law and order people can remove this evil.
images - own
