The two-day annual Oachira Kali festival began at the Oachira Padanilam, near here, on Wednesday.
Oachira Kali is a 300-year-old martial arts festival held on the first two days of the Malayalam month of Mithunam to commemorate the battle between the Kayamkulam and the Ambalapuzha kingdoms in the medieval times. It is also a festival associated with the Oachira Parabrahma temple.
The padanilam (battlefield) is a wetland close to the temple. Men and boys dressed as warriors enter the wetland that gets waterlogged during monsoon and engage in a mock battle using sticks to commemorate the battle.
The battle decorum is for one side to advance for some time and then retreat to enable the other side to advance. The retreat and advance take place rhythmically to the beat of drums. Hundreds of people gather on the sides of the wetland to witness the event. Boys grab the opportunity to splash around in the knee-deep water.
