10-day ‘Koda’ festival at Mondaikad Temple begins with flag-hoisting ritual
The Hindu
Thousands of devotees on Sunday thronged the famed Mondaikad Bhagavathy Amman Temple to witness the ‘Kodiyettu’ (flag-hoisting ceremony), marking the commencement of the 10-day “Koda” festival in this coastal town in Kaniyakumari district.
Thousands of devotees on Sunday thronged the famed Mondaikad Bhagavathy Amman Temple to witness the ‘Kodiyettu’ (flag-hoisting ceremony), marking the commencement of the 10-day “Koda” festival in this coastal town in Kaniyakumari district.
Temple Tantri Edakkode Sankaranarayana Iyer initiated the festival rituals in the morning. Telangana Governor Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan, and former Kerala Minister V.S. Sivakumar among others, were present on the occasion. The legendary Koda will take place on March 12 attended by lakhs of devotees from the various regions of Tamil Nadu and the southern parts of Kerala.
“Valiyapadukka,” a major midnight ritual of the festival, will be performed on March 8 and the procession of “Valiya Theevatti” on March 11, before the festival concludes with the “Odukku Pooja” at midnight on March 12. During the festival season, thousands of devotees reach Mondaikad from south Kerala. The Tamil Nadu government has made elaborate arrangements to regulate the flow of pilgrims.
Special inter-State bus services are being operated between Thiruvananthapuram and Mondaikad by the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation. The Tamil Nadu police deployed more than 1,000 special personnel and a contingent of Marine Police for security and crowd management.
The Mondaikad Devi Temple is situated on the coast of the Arabian Sea, near Colachel in the erstwhile Travancore princely state. Despite being in Tamil Nadu’s Kaniyakumari district, the temple rituals and festivals are conducted as per the rituals and traditions followed in Kerala.
Maharashtra's 29 civic bodies, including Mumbai, hold elections with 3.48 crore voters choosing 2,869 corporators amid intense competition.
Congress leader B.V. Rajeev Gowda from Shidlaghatta in Chikkaballapur district allegedly threatened the Municipal Commissioner of the town of setting fire to her office and getting her beaten up, and used abusive language, over a flex and banner that was removed for violating norms.
Police in Vizag seize 650 rolls of banned Chinese manjha amid safety concerns as illegal sales continue ahead of Sankranti.
Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar clarifies Rahul Gandhi's message was simply to continue good work, dismissing any speculation.
Over 51,000 hearings in Ernakulam help reinstate voting rights as part of the Special Intensive Revision of voter rolls.
The foundation stone for the construction of Shri Parashurama Swagata Gopura (Welcome Tower) in the northern entry to Udupi city will be laid by Yashpal Suvarna, Udupi MLA and president of Shiroor Mutt Paryaya Swagata Samiti on January 16.
The municipal bus stand auditorium in Malappuram was packed. But nobody quite knew what to expect. After all, a new event was making its debut at the State School Arts Festival. The moment V.G. Harikrishnan started his rendition of Pyar bhare do sharmile nain..., everyone was convinced that Ghazal was here to stay. The student from GVHSS, Atholi (Kozhikode), was applauded loudly for his rendering of the timeless ghazal sung originally by Mehdi Hassan.
Join influential discussions at The Hindu Lit for Life festival in Chennai on January 17-18, 2024.
For the last few weeks, several wards in Madurai city have been getting piped drinking water through a new drinking water scheme. The sweetness of the generously supplied water has led to loss of business to several suppliers of canned drinking water in the city. But, not many know that the water supplied to the houses in Madurai is directly drawn from Lower Dam of Mullaperiyar Dam in Idukki district of Kerala.
A 20-acre farm on the St Xavier’s College campus at Thumba run by State Award-winning farmer S.V. Sujith had visitors from the Iowa State University, U.S., on Tuesday.
NGT issues notices to U.P., M.P., and Rajasthan over sewage contamination in drinking water, citing serious health risks.
Last-minute Pongal shoppers crowd Tiruchi's markets, boosting sales for traders amid rising prices for fruits and festive items.
Confusing coalitions and absent accountability raise voter concerns as Mumbai's civic elections approach amidst air quality neglect.