Kerala - Pathanamthitta   

Thiruvonathoni sets off for Aranmula temple

Staff Reporter

With vegetables and provisions for Onam feast

AN ONAM TRADITION: The Thiruvonathoni, carrying provisions and vegetables for the traditional Onam feast at the Aranmula Sree Parthasarathy Temple on Thiruvonam day, sets off from the Kattoor Maha Vishnu Temple ghats in the Pampa on Monday afternoon.

PATHANAMTHITTA: The Garuda-faced temple vessel Thiruvonathoni, carrying provisions and vegetables for the traditional Onam feast at Sree Parthasarathy Temple in Aranmula, set off from the Maha Vishnu Temple ghats in the Pampa river at Kattoor near Kozhencherry on Monday afternoon.

Narayana Bhattathiri, eldest member of the Mangattu Illom at Kumaranalloor near Kottayam, is taking the provisions to the Aranmula temple, escorted by palliyodams (snake boats).

Tradition has it that the eldest member of the Mangattu Illom, whose ancestors hailed from Kattoor, escorts the Thiruvonathoni to Aranmula on the eve of Thiruvonam.

It is a custom that 18 families at Kattoor offer provisions for the feast. It is transported to Aranmula in the Thiruvonathoni immediately after the deeparadhana at the Kattoor Maha Vishnu Temple on Uthradom day.

The legend

According to legends, a Bhattathiri of the Kattoor Madhom used to offer Onam feast to a Brahmin every Thiruvonam day. The Bhattathiri was upset when no Brahmin turned up for the feast on a particular Thiruvonam. A heart-broken Bhattathiri prayed to Lord Parthasarathy and in no time a Brahmin boy reached the Madhom seeking alms. The Bhattathiri received him with reverence and offered him a sumptuous Onam feast and Onam clothes.

Bidding goodbye, the boy told the Bhattathiri that he should take the Onam feast to the Aranmula temple from next year onwards. A few minutes later, the Bhattathiri realised that the boy was none other than Lord Parthasarathy.

Devotees in the small villages of Kattoor and Cherukol joined the offering later on.

Hundreds of devotees thronged the Kattoor temple ghats to witness the auspicious function on Monday.

The Melshanti transferred the sacred flame from the sanctum sanctorum of the Maha Vishnu Temple to the ceremonial lamp in the Thiruvonathoni immediately after the deeparadhana at the temple. A group of snake boats belonging to the nearby karayogams (rustic parts) are escorting the vessel to Aranmula.

The devotees greeted the Thiruvonathoni, which they consider a divine vessel, from the riverbanks along the Kattoor-Aranmula stretch.

They offered betel leaves, areca nuts, tobacco and cotton shawls to the divine boat as a mark of reverence.

The Thiruvonathoni will reach the Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple ghats on Tuesday morning.

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Thiruvonathoni sets off for Aranmula temple

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