A spiritual frenzy has engulfed Erumely, the main base camp of Sabarimala pilgrims, with the town gearing up for the ceremonial Petta Thullal (ritualistic dance) by the Ambalappuzha and Alangad teams on January 11. This will be preceded by the Chandanakudam celebrations at the Nainar Mosque here the previous night.
The two-day celebrations also mark the final phase of this edition of the annual pilgrimage season to Sabarimala.
The Chandanakudam celebrations, organised by the Erumely Mahallu Muslim Jamaat, takes off with a procession from Nainar Mosque at 7.15 p.m. on January 10. Accompanied by percussion ensembles and art performances, the procession around the town will be accorded reception at various points and is slated to conclude at the mosque by 2.30 a.m.
Earlier in the evening, Cooperation Minister V.N. Vasavan inaugurated the Chandanakudam event. Pathanamthitta District Collector Divya S. Iyer, Travancore Devaswom Board president K. Ananthagopan and Kottayam District Police Chief K. Karthik were present.
Religious harmony
The Chandanakudam is celebrated annually to relive the unique bonhomie between Lord Ayyappa and his trusted Muslim lieutenant Vavar and the tradition of communal harmony in the area.
The festivities on January 11 will begin with teams from Ambalappuzha and Alangad, which represent the maternal and paternal lineages of Lord Ayyapppa, taking up the spiritual dance called Petta Thullal. The dance by the Ambalappuzha team is slated to begin from the Kochamblam here after sighting of Brahmini kite (Krishna Parunthu) in the skies at 10.30 a.m.
The Alangad team will kick-start its dance by the afternoon after sighting the ‘star’ in the day skies. The legend has it that Erumely was the scene of a fight between Ayyappa and Mahishi, the demon princess, and following her assassination, Lord Ayyappa trekked to Sabarimala.
According to the police, the town is experiencing the biggest traffic congestion in its history. This has resulted in serpentine queues along Sabarimala route on one side and Kanjirappally route on the other side.
In view of heightened pilgrim activity over the next couple of days, an additional batch of 300 policemen has been deployed. The district administration has declared a local holiday for Kanjirappally taluk on Wednesday.
