Chettikulangara all set for Kumbha Bharani festival on Thursday

Elaborate arrangements made for Kumbha Bharani festival at Chettikulangara Devi Temple, with 'kuthiyottam' performances and 'kettukazcha' pageant.

Elaborate arrangements have been made for the Kumbha Bharani festival at Chettikulangara Devi Temple, near Mavelikara, on Thursday.

The sanctum sanctorum of the temple will be opened at 4.30 a.m. The rituals and pujas in connection with the festival, which started a week ago, will reach their pinnacle on the festival day with the ‘kuthiyottam’ performances and ‘kettukazcha’ pageant. People who offered ‘kuthiyottam’ performances to the deity have trained boys on the dancing steps of ‘kuthiyottam’. The ‘kuthiyottam’ procession will reach the temple at 6 a.m.

The biggest spectacle, the ‘kettukazhcha’ pageant, which displays six gigantic temple cars known as ‘kuthira’ (horse motifs), five ‘theru’ (chariots), and mammoth idols of Bheema and Hanuman will be drawn to the temple from the 13 ‘karas’ — Erezha South, Erezha North, Kaitha South, Kaitha North, Kannamangalam South, Kannamangalam North, Pela, Kadavoor, Anjilipra, Mattom North, Mattom South, Menampilly and Nadakkavu — around 4 p.m.

The temple has Goddess Bhadrakali as the main deity and is believed to be over 1,200 years old. A large number of devotees from across the State are expected to reach Chettikulangara to participate in the festival organised under the aegis of the Sridevi Vilasom Hindu Matha Convention.

Meanwhile, security has been beefed up in the region. Traffic will be regulated in Chettikulangara from 2 p.m.

District Collector John V. Samuel has declared a local holiday for all government offices and educational institutions in Mavelikara and Karthikappally taluks on Thursday, in view of the Kumbha Bharani festival. However, public examinations and interviews will be held as scheduled.