The ceremonial procession carrying different kinds of `kolams’ as part of the annual Padayani festival at the Kadalimangalam Devi Temple at Venpala near Thiruvalla was held with religious fervour on Wednesday night.
The procession set off from the Subrahmanya Swami Temple at Thirumoolapuram near Thiruvalla after the daily deeparadhana and hundreds of devotees thronged the temple precincts to witness the ceremonial start.
The traditional padayani percussion of `thappu’, `karakom’ and various other temple percussion were the main accompaniments of the procession. Women and young girls carrying the customary `thalappoli’ lamps added a traditional fervour to the procession.
The procession of kolams reached the Devi temple by 10 pm. Padayani artistes attached to the karayogams of Thengeli and Eruvellipra villages staged the `Nirthu-padayani’, later.
Two padayani committees in the villages of Venpala and Eruvellipra-Thengeli are jointly organising the annual padayani festival that ends on the Bharani asterism in the Malayalam month of Meenom.
Padayani performance by the Eruvellipra-Thengeli group came to a close with the `Mangala’ kolam followed by `Kaalayakshi’ kolam performance, making it a grand finale on Thursday morning.
The annual Padayani festival will come to a close with a joint performance (`koodi-thullal’) by the Venpala as well as Eruvellipra-Thengeli padayani karayogams on Saturday.
