Festivals Tour of Kerala

Kerala wakes up to some festival or the other every day of the year and Keralites are addicted to the festivals. In short ' Keralisation' of the festivals of different communities is the unique feature of Kerala life.

Onam in August September every year is the most popularly celebrated ,ten day singing dancing ,festing and religious ceremonies. This harvest festival is celebrated to welcome the legendary king Mahabali. Intricate floral decorations are made on the courtyard to welcome this king on his visit to his beloved subjects. The most exciting feature of the festival however, is the snake boat races held at several places on the palm-fringed lagoons.

Nehru Trophy Boat Race is one of those events which the people of Kerala look forward to with excitement. Pavilions are set up for the spectators on the banks and in the middle of Punnamada Lake the venue of the race. This boat race takes its name from India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who inaugurated in 1952. There are separate races for women too. The race begins with a colourful pageant of floats performing arts and decorated boats and goes on late into the evening.
 

Payippad Jelotsavam held in memory for the Prathista ceremony of Haripad Subramanya temple and therefore has a religious significance. This festival is celeberated for three days commencing from the Onam festival day. Snake boat processions are taken out on the first two days and competitive boat race take place on the third day.
 

Attukal Pongala this is the one and the only temple festival in the world where lakhs of women assembled together to make offerings by cooking a pudding for the goddess in the Attukal temple. It is taken home after the chief priest of the temple will come and sprinkle the holy water and will shower the flowers. This festival will come to an end in the evening with a procession from the temple.
 

Thrissur Pooram festival is a mammoth spectacle with arrays of thirty caparisoned elephants bedecked with gold ornaments. Each elephant is ridden by three mahouts holding projects symbolizing royalty. As the elephants line up facing each other in two straight rows, still in their disciplined dignity, the ancient resonance of Panchavadyam, the five instruments of conch,cymbals,trumpet and two kinds of drums build up a crescendo.

 

Pongal festival is the first festival beginning off each new year in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. As the dates for pongal festival are calculated by the solar calander (ie. Western), the dates of January 13-16 never change. When the harvest is over, the people of Tamil Nadu express their gratitude to the gods, the earth and their cattle. For four days, they celebrate with abandon and worship with devotion. Each day of this festival has a special significance, however, it is celebrated more grandly in the villages, while the city folk mainly celebrate on the second day only.
Kolam ( Rangoli) :-
Preparations for the festival of pongal start early and the first thing that is always found in Hindu homes before the start of "Pongal Festival" or "Harvest Festival" is the 'kolam'. This is a form of decoration for the Hindus' homes. This decorative pattern is made with rice flour & is usually drawn on the floor, outside the door in tamilnadu. The kolams serve as a symbol of welcoming guests to the entrance of the house. At the center of the Kolam is a lump of cow-dung, which holds a five-petalled pumpkin flower-a symbol of fertility and an offering of love to the presiding deity.