ALUVA: Amidst the chanting of "Amme Narayana, Devi Narayana" by thousands of devotees, the doors of the sanctum sanctorum of Goddess Parvathy at the Thiruvairanikulam Mahadeva temple, near here, were opened on Tuesday evening to enable the devotees to offer prayers in connection with the 12day Nadathurappu festival.
A large number of devotees, temple Trust members and temple officials reached the Akavoor Mana to accompany the procession carrying the Thiruvabharanams (ornaments) to the temple. Marking the beginning of the Nadathurappu festival, Akavoor Mana Karanavar (most senior person of the Mana) Narayanan Namboodiripad, Kunjaniyan Namboodiripad and Oorayma representative A V Krishnan Namboodiripad handed over the ornaments to the Temple officials at 4 p.m.
The Thiruvabharanam procession was led by women devotees holding thalam and deepam. Pookkavadi and playing of different kinds of percussion instruments were the other highlights of the procession.
The most auspicious ritual of the festival began at 8 p.m. when the representatives of the Oorayma Manas A V Krishnan Namboodiripad (Akavoor), V Parameswaran Namboodiripad (Vediyoor Mana) and Vishnu Vishnu Namboodiripad, Temple Trust officebearers P Sivasankaran (president), M K Das (secretary), R Sarathchandran Nair (treasurer), P P Mohanan (vicepresident), P R Shajikumar (jointsecretary), Dileepkumar (convener), manager P K Nandakumar and assistant manager A K Kaladharan took position in front of the sanctum sanctorum along with Samudayam Thirumeni Cherumukku Vasudevan Akkithiripad.
Keeping the tradition, Pushpini Ajimangalath Thankamani Brahminiyamma, a symbol of the intimate friend of Devi Parvathy, asked thrice whether all representatives of the Oorayma Manas and temple officials were present in front of the Sreekovil. After receiving the positive reply to the query, Samudayam Thirumeni was permitted to open the doors of the Sreekovil. The temple witnessed unprecedented gathering on the opening day. The KSRTC operated special services from all nearby bus stations. The police personnel led by DySP N Sivadasan had a tough time in controlling the surging crowd.
The Marampally-Sreemoolanagaram bridge has been opened for pedestrians to cross Periyar. The devotees can offer prayers for the next 12 days when the doors of the Sreekovil will remain open from 4.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 8.30 p.m.
The festival will conclude with the closing of the temple doors at 8 p.m. on January 1. The devotees can reach the temple from Kalady (Angamaly-Perumbavoor route), Desom (Aluva-Angamaly NH 47) and Marampally (Aluva-Perumbavoor KSRTC route).
