THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The annual Mondaikad Koda festival commenced at the Bhagavathy Amman temple at Mondaikad, Kanniyakumari, on Sunday. Temple tantri Edakkode Sankaranarayana Iyer hoisted the festival flag in the presence of thousands of devotees.
The 10-day-long festival at the seashore temple draws thousands of people from South Kerala. The festival highlight ‘koda’ ritual will be held on March 10. The ‘valiyapadukka’, an important mid-night ritual, will be held on March 6 and the ‘valiya theevatti’ procession on March 8. The festival will conclude with the ‘odukku pooja’ on March 10 midnight. A large number of women would also be offering ‘pongala’ at the temple throughout the day on the festival days.
The kodiyettu ritual was attended by Madras High Court judge L C Victoria Gowri, Kanniyakumari district collector R Alagumeena, Padmanabhapuram sub-collector Vinay Kumar Meena and Kanyakumari devaswom executive officer.The 89th annual Hindu Maha Sammelan, organised by the Kanniyakumari Devaswom Board and Haindava Seva Sangham, began along with the festival.
Kerala tradition
The rituals and festivals at the Mondaikad shrine located at Colachel in Kanniyakumari district is followed according to Kerala traditions. The temple, earlier managed by the Travancore rulers, is now administered by the Kanniyakumari Devaswom Board.
The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation will be operating additional services between Thiruvananthapuram and Mondaikad on the festival days.
The Tamil Nadu police has also deployed over 800 special personnel and a contingent of Marine Police for security and crowd management. Watchtowers have been set up around the temple, including the coastal stretches.