For devout Hindus, Panja-Karkidakom, the month of rain and scarcity, is Ramayanam month, when they recite the Ramayanam .
They believe that reciting the Ramayanam in Karkidakom will bring prosperity and good luck to the households, besides giving them spiritual strength to tide over various difficulties during the monsoon.
They recite the Adhyatma Ramayanam , written by Thunchathu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan, who is regarded as the father of Malayalam.
Organisations like the Travancore Devaswom Board, Viswa Hindu Parishad, Kshetra Samrakshana Samiti, Mata Amritanandamayi Math and so on started popularising Ramayanam recital.The book is recited everyday, from the first day of Karkidakom, so as to complete it by the last day of the month.
TDB president Prayar Gopalakrishnan has said that Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran will inaugurate the board’s Ramayanam month observance at a function at Pampa on Monday, the first day of Karkidakam.
Book on sale
The TDB, Viswa Hindu Parishad, Kshetra Samrakshana Samiti, Mata Amritanandamayi Math, and all major book houses have published the text anticipating good sale during Karkidakom.
The TDB has reduced the price of Ramayanam from ₹180 to ₹100 for the month of Karkidakom.
Various organisations as well as temple advisory committees have made elaborate arrangements for Ramayanam recital during the month.
The TDB president said the board would be launching a novel programme, Kausalya Vandanam , to honour mothers at the 1,200-odd temples attached to it as part of the Ramayanam month celebrations.
