KOCHI: The daily pooja at Aluva Mahadeva temple has been disrupted for the first time in 94 years. The temple which was shut on August 16, is expected to be opened only after a week. “It has been 40 years since I took over as the Melshanti (chief priest) of the temple. I have never witnessed such a flood. Both the Manappuram temple and the Althara temple, where the presiding deity is shifted during flood, have submerged. We are not able to perform daily poojas for the past seven days. It will take at least a week to restart poojas as we have to remove the mud accumulated in the temple, reconstruct the damaged roof and perform ‘pancha sudhikalasam’ or cleansing ritual,” Melshanti Mullappally Mana Subramanian Namboothiri told Express.
The roof of the Manappuram temple was also damaged as huge trees washed down by the flood waters had smashed the temple roof. While mud accumulated at one side of the temple, a huge deposit of river sand has been deposited on the other side. “Mud used to accumulate in and around the temple during floods every year. One positive outcome of the flood is that we regained the famous Aluva Manappuram, the river beach,” he said.
The temple was closed on Aug 16 and is likely to be opened only after a week