The annual ‘bali-tharpanam' was held with religious fervour at various temple ghats and other ‘theertha ghats' in the district on Monday.
Hundreds of people, including women and children, offered ‘bali' at specially arranged ‘balippura' on the banks of the Pampa, Manimala and Achencoil rivers. Hindus believe that the ritual performed on the new moon day in the month of Karkidakom will propitiate the spirits of their forefathers and bring good fortune in the year ahead.
Travancore Devaswom Board, local karayogams attached to the Nair Service Society, Viswa Hindu Parishad and Viswa Brahmana Sabha had made elaborate arrangements for the event, popularly known as ‘Karkkidaka vavu bali,' in the district. People began to throng ‘theertha ghats' on the river banks from Sunday late night itself for performing the annual rites in the early hours of Monday. Hundreds offered ‘bali' at the Sree Parthasarathy Temple ghats in the Pampa at Aranmula and Pandalam Mahadevar Temple ghats on the banks of the Achencoil river, among others. Special rituals were performed at various temples in connection with the Karkkidaka Vavu.
Many offered bali at the theertha ghat at the Triveni-Sangamom at Pampa on the foothills of Sabarimala on Monday.
In Kollam
Staff Reporter writes from Kollam: Hundreds performed the ‘Karkkidaka vavu bali' rituals in various parts of Kollam district on Monday. The main venue of the ritual in the district was the Thirumullavaram beach in the city where the rituals began by 4 a.m.
Close to 70,000 people performed the ritual at Thirumullavaram alone by Monday evening. The ritual will continue through Monday night and conclude by 11 a.m. on Tuesday.
Various forums had organised facilities at the site for those arriving to perform the ritual.
The other important sites for the bali ritual in the district are the Mundakkal Papanasam beach, the banks of the Ashtamudi Lake by the Ashtamudi Veerabhadraswamy temple, the banks of the Sasthamcotta Lake near the Sasthamcotta Sastha temple and the Paalaruvi waterfalls near Aryankavu.
The police had enforced traffic regulations in the city in view of the large flow of crowd and vehicles to Thirumullavaram beach.
Vehicular traffic around a radius of 2 km of Thirumullavaram was banned.
