KOCHI: The annual ‘nada thurappu’ festival of Thiruvairanikulam Mahadeva temple at Aluva began on Tuesday. The annual festival is special for devotees as they get the opportunity for darshan of the deity of goddess Parvathy at the temple only during the 12 days, starting with the Thiruvathira day of the Dhanu month in the Malayalam calendar.
The deities of Lord Shiva and Parvathy are installed on opposite sides of the sanctum sanctorum and the ‘sreekovil’ of the goddess was opened for ‘darshan’ on Tuesday night.
The festivities began with a colourful procession carrying the holy ornaments of the deities from Akavoor Mana around 4 pm.
The office-bearers of the temple trust received the ornaments and the holy lamp from the patriarch of the Akavoor Mana following pujas held at the Sree Ramaswamy temple there. The ornaments were taken to the Thiruvairanikulam temple in a decorated chariot. Hundreds of devotees attended the procession which reached the temple around 7.30 pm. Temple head priest Naduvam Narayanan Namboothiri received the ornaments and adorned the deities with them.
During the festival days, the temple will remain open from 4 am to 1.30 pm and then from 2 pm to 9 pm. ‘Annadanam’ or food distribution will be held from 9 am on all days.
The KSRTC has arranged special services to Thiruvairanikulam from Aluva, Perumbavoor, Angamaly, and Chalakudy depots. Jan Shatabdi and Thiruvananthapuram-Chennai trains have been allotted special stops at Aluva. The ‘nada thurappu’ festival will come to a close at 8 pm on January 6.