The annual Sooranpada festival at the Subrahmanya Swami temple at Thiruvannur began on Tuesday.
Also called Soorasamhara Maholsavam , the festival is celebrated to commemorate the mythical episode of Lord Subrahmanya (Murugan), with the help of his aide Veerabahu, killing Asura kings Thaarakasuran and Shoorapathman.
The festival traces its history back to the time of the Zamorins, the former rulers of Kozhikode. Local people say that a group of people who were brought by the Zamorin from Tamil Nadu for bearing his palanquin were later allowed to make their settlement at Thiruvannur. They were also allowed to install their favourite deity Murugan on a small platform under a banyan tree, which was later developed into a temple attracting thousands of devotees. “Not only has the deity, but also the festival has many features that suggest the temple’s cultural connections to the neighbouring State,” says Sudheesh Thiruvannur, one of the key organisers.
The Murugan Kovil at Thiruvannur is the only place in the entire State where the festival originally replicated from the Thiruchendur Murugan temple in Tamil Nadu. “It is because of this that Thiruvannur has its sobriquet ‘Kerala Thiruchendur’,” says Mr. Sudheesh.
The streets are decorated with festoons and flowers and the temple walls are prettified with drawings of legends and the youngsters of the area are already busy making huge kolams (figures) to symbolically enact the ritualistic killing of the Asuras, which would mark the end of the seven-day festival on November 17. The festival began with the ceremonial hoisting of a flag by temple head priest Palakkulam Parameswaran Namboothiri on Tuesday evening. It was followed a Nadaswara Ragamelam performance led by Kottappadi Surendran. An orchestra led by playback singer Vaikom Vijayalakshmi was the highlight of the second day’s cultural programme.
The festival will feature a series programmes including dance, music, puppetry, Chakyar Koothu and instrumental music in the coming days, said the organisers.
