Expecting the arrival of more than five lakh devotees between Monday night and Tuesday evening, elaborate arrangements are being made on the Thirumullavaram beach in Kollam city for the smooth conduct of the Karkidaka Vavu bali rituals.
The rituals commence at 2 a.m. on Tuesday and end the evening.
But devotees in their thousands begin arriving by evening on Monday.
Vavu bali is an important ritual observed by Hindus in Kerala on the new moon day in the Malayalam month of Karkidakam.
Ritual
The ritual involves people offering bali to the departed souls of their near and dear ones. The ritual is performed by men, women, and children.
The Travancore Devaswom Board is directly supervising the arrangements being carried out there.
The district administration, Health Department, police, the Public Works Department, the KSEB, and the Fire and Rescue Services are also in the forefront making arrangements so as to enable all arriving there to smoothly conduct the rituals in a peaceful atmosphere.
The TDB, in association with the Thirumullavaram Sri Maha Vishnuswamy temple advisory committee, is putting up a shed where 500 devotees could conduct the ritual at a time.
Committee president B.S. Sen said that 10 lifeguards were being posted on the beach to ensure the safety of devotees who also would have to enter the sea as part of performing the rituals.
VHP’s arrangements
Meanwhile, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad was also making arrangements of its own for the devotees arriving to perform the ritual.
The VHP leaders said they were putting up a shed where 500 devotees could conduct the ritual at a time..
