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Thousands offer bali on karkidaka vavu

Staff Reporter

Special arrangements made on Papanasam and Shanghumughom beaches

PROPTIATING ANCESTORS: People offer bali on `Karkidaka vavu' on Shanghumughom beach in the city on Monday. — Photo: C. RATHEESH KUMAR

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM. Thousands of people offered `bali' to propitiate their forefathers on the occasion of `Karkidaka vavu' on Monday.

There was a heavy rush of devotees at the Janardhanaswamy temple, Varkala, the Parasuramaswamy temple, Thiruvallam and at the Shanghumughom beach in the city from the early hours of the morning.

Special arrangements had been made at the Papanasam beach at Varkala for the bali rituals. More than 100 priests, given special license from the temple, assisted the devotees in the rituals. Even though the bali was supposed to have begun only after 9.15 a.m. hundreds of people started the rituals shortly after midnight on Sunday.

Administrative officer of the Janardhanaswamy temple Santhadanandan Pillai told The Hindu that about 10,000 `thila Havanam' and `Saayoojya puja' were conducted at the temple by those who had come to offer bali at the Papanasam beach. Special arrangements had been made at the temple's `Aanakkottil' for the pujas.

Officials of the Parasuramaswamy temple, Thiruvallam, estimate that about 28,000 people had offered bali there on Monday. "There were 25,000 kshethra bali conducted and about 3,000 kadavu bali done on Monday. The rituals were led by 15 chief priests and 15 assistant priests," temple's administrative officer Kumaran Nair told The Hindu . The bali rituals at both these temples went on till about 3 p.m.

For the hundreds of people who gathered at the Shanghumughom beach this morning, finding adequate space to perform the rituals proved to be a challenge. A good portion of the beach has been lost to sea erosion. Unofficial estimates put the number of people who performed bali at the beach, at 10,000. Both at Shanghumughom and at Papanasam devotees performed bali by braving the rough sea.

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