KALADY: Over 16 lakh devotees have visited the Thiruvairanikulam Mahadeva Temple, with Pattupudava and Thali offerings, over the past few days of the Nadathurappu festival.
Crowds are expected to swell over the last days of the festival, which overlap with the weekend holidays.
Most devotees to the Sriparvathydevi Temple Nadathurappu are women devotees praying for marriage and childbirth. The main deity here is Parvathy, who through her penance wins the heart of Lord Shiva, after the departure of his wife Sathi.
The devotees present a pattupudava, thali and vaalkannadi, all related to marriage rituals, as offerings to the deity. Those who have got married after the pattupudava and thali offerings come with ‘enapudava’. The temple trust has made arrangements for devotees to purchase of valkannadi, cradles, thali and other offerings while in the queue.
The pattupudava offered to the deity is later auctioned off. This pattupudava, which is believed to be special, is also seeing a huge demand this auction.
For the past few days, the temple was kept open for two-three hours more than its closing time, to accommodate the rush. The temple has also tided over demonetisation as swiping machines have been arranged at the counters.
The nadathurappu festival will come to an end after 12 days on Sunday at 8 pm.
