Kummati Festival
The Kummati festival is held at the Pookulangara Bhagavathy Temple, 7 km from Alathur which is 22 km from Palakkad town.
One of the attractions is Kanyar, a folk art practised by the Nair community.
On the day before the Kummatti, the Kanyar is performed. On the day of the festival, ten caparisoned elephants participate in a procession. Kannyar Kali owes its origin to the practicing of martial arts in the region, which was under the constant threat of attack from neighbouring Kongu Nadu. At the high point of the celebration, the villagers who have assembled near the temple are asked if they will defend the village. Only upon getting a positive answer can the celebrations proceed. If any one of the villagers dissents, the celebrations are held up.
Apart from the famous Kummatti, the annual Aarat (holy bath) coinciding with Dasara and the twelve-yearly celebration of Valia Aarat (Big Festival) is noteworthy. Once every 32 years, there is a joint festival called Thalapoli in which the people of Kunisseri who worship the deity Pookulangara Bhagavathy go to "meet" her father Pallavoorappan (that is, Shiva), in the nearby village of Pallavoor
It is quite gratifying to see the temple and surroundings....for those of us who have left the village in search of greener pastures, this kind of updates are absolutely a treat...good job Karthik. May Pookulathi bless you
ReplyDeleteYes for those who have left Kunisseri long ago it brings nostalgia. I remember as a boy going to the temple to fetch the "Kadum madhura payasam" to my tharavadu and surreptiously dipping my hands into the vessel on way home to eat the same ! Pookulathi is keeping an eye for us her children whereever we are.
ReplyDeleteKunnath Ravi