THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : Thousands of people paid reverence to their ancestors by offering ‘balitharpanam’ at the denoted venues on Saturday, the occasion of Karkkidaka Vavu. Devotees flocked to various temples and bathing ghats across the district for the ritual.
The ceremonies took place at eight locations, including Thiruvallam, Shankhumukham, Varkala, Aruvikkara, Vellayani, Aruvippuram, Neyyatinkara and Kadinamkulam. Around 25,000 people in Thiruvallam, 7,000 in Shankhumukham and 5,000 people in Kadinamkulam made offerings. There was a huge turnout of people at these centres from midnight.
Most temples commenced the rituals at 4am which continued throughout the day. However, rituals at the Parashurama Swamy Temple in Thiruvallam started as early as 2am. Most of the devotees participated in the rituals in the early hours of the day.
At the Varkala Shivagiri Ashram, ‘balitharpanam’ started early in the morning at the Sharada Sannidhi. Offerings were also made at places such as the Poovanpara temple in Attingal, Rameswaram Mahadev temple near Neyyatinkara and various temple ghats and ponds on the banks of Neyyar. At the Thiruvallam Parashurama temple, facilities were set up for 3,500 people to make offerings simultaneously at nine platforms.
At Shankhumukham, police, fire forces, coastal guards, scuba divers and the Navy provided security. Barricades were set up to prevent people from entering the sea. Puthankotta Thirunarayanapuram Shiva Temple near Killipalam saw scores of people offering ‘bali’ as early as 3.30am.
Devotees thronged to offer bali at the makeshift pandal in front of the Siva temple, which dates back more than 700 years old.
Brinda Rajeev, a devotee, told TNIE that she had been offering ‘bali’ at Siva Temple for the past several years. “As part of the ritual, the priest chanted mantras and devotees repeated after him. It was over in less than 15 minutes. However, I was unable to take a dip in the Karamana River as there was heavy flow in the river,” said Brinda.
Devotees also offered ‘bali’ at Kadinamkulam Mahadev temple, Vellayani Thrikkulangara Mahavishnu temple, Vellayani Shivodayam Shiva temple, Veli Pozhikkara Mahaganapathi Temple, Kaimanam Chirakkara Mahavishnu Temple, among others.