Recalling pious myths and rituals, the ‘pallipana’ festival began with religious fervour at the Sree Krishna Swami temple in Ambalappuzha. Dozens of priests belonging to various castes will participate in the two-week long festival. The rituals started with the chanting of ‘manthras’ to praise Lord Siva, Parvathy and Mahavishnu by the priests belonged to backward castes, recalling the special rights of the sub-castes to host rituals at the time of the princely rule.
The festival began on Saturday morning with reception of the heir of the rituals Ambanattu Panickan, Sasidhara Panickar and acharya V K Krishnan. Kesavan Achari, the thachan (carpenter) of Chambakassery, held the ‘rasi nottam’ ceremony. Melsanthi Brahmadathan Namboothiri invoked the spirit of the Lord Devi.
The members from the valan community are the main priests of pallipana. The devaswom administrator handed over the golden deities to the priests belonging to different families. The family members handed over the deities to the ‘koima sthani’. The deities were later handed over to the melsanthi.