The newly-installed golden flagstaff at Sri Mahadevar temple, Ettumanur, was consecrated at a colourful ceremony on Sunday. Thousands of devotees witnessed the ceremony, which was led by Thantri Kandararu Rajeevaru.
The special ceremonies connected with the consecration commenced with the ‘Ashtadravyamahaganapathy homam' using 1,008 coconuts at 5.30 in the morning. This was followed by ushapooja, vahana prathishta and kalashabhishekom. With this, curtains came down on the final phase of the installation ceremonies, which started on May 11.
The installation of the new flagstaff was part of the ‘devaprashna parihara kriyas' being held at the temple. The old flagstaff was made of concrete and covered with gold. The new flagstaff is a single piece 17-metre teak wood identified by the temple authorities from Kozhuvanal near Pala.
The teak wood was taken to the temple in a ceremonious procession and the wood was treated with Ayruvedic medicines as per the age old custom.
The process of installing the wooden flagstaff and covering it with golden ‘paras' commenced on May 11.
Following the completion of the ‘dhwaja prathishta' on Sunday, the temple will celebrate a special festival this year, which will commence on May 19, complete with a ‘pakalpooram' on the seventh day of the festival on May 25 and the unique ‘ezhara ponnana darshan' scheduled for the eighth day on May 26. The festival will come to a close on May 28.
The installation ceremony was managed and supervised by High Court appointed Advocate Commissioner A.S.P. Kurup; Vaikom Devasom deputy commissioner A.K. Suresh Jeevan; Devaswom administrative officer K.Rajan; dhwaja prathishta committee convenor K.N. Sreekumar and others.
