Kerala - Pathanamthitta   

Rousing reception to Thiruvonathoni

Staff Reporter

Hundreds of devotees partake of Onam feast at Aranmula Parthasarathy temple

DEVOTIONAL WELCOME: A reception accorded to the Thiruvonathoni when it reached the Sree Parthasarathy Temple ghats in the Pampa at Aranmula on Tuesday morning.

PATHANAMTHITTA: The Garuda-faced temple vessel Thiruvonathoni, which brings vegetables and provisions from Kattoor near Cherukol for the Onam feast at Sree Parthasarathy Temple in Aranmula, was accorded a rousing reception at the temple ghats in the Pampa at Aranmula on Tuesday morning.

Hundreds of devotees thronged the temple ghats and the riverbanks to witness the arrival of the temple vessel. They consider it as an auspicious occasion that brings them prosperity round the year.

The illuminated vessel, which set off from Kattoor on Monday afternoon, reached Aranmula at daybreak on Thiruvonam day. It was escorted by a few palliyodams (snake boats) belonging to various karas (rustic parts) in the upstream of the Pampa.

The atmosphere was charged with devotion with Krishna bhajans renting the air. The vessel anchored at the temple gahts amid loud rhythmic chants of vanchippatu, verses in praise of Lord Krishna, at 5.50 a.m. Many devotees, including women and children, were found touching the vessel with reverence and offering prayers with folded hands. They offered tobacco, betel leaves, areca nuts and cotton shawls to it, a traditional way of receiving the temple vessel.

M.R. Bhattathiri of the Kumaranalloor Mangattu Illom in Kottayam district (whose ancestors migrated from Kattoor long ago) escorted the Thiruvonathoni to Aranmula. The Bhattathiri had reached Kattoor in a canoe from Kumaranalloor on Monday to escort the vessel to Aranmula. People in and around Kattoor offer provisions and vegetables for the feast at Aranmula.

The Melshanti took the sacred flame kept in the vessel to the sanctum sanctorum of the temple to transfer it to the `kedavilakku' there.

The Onam feast was served to devotees immediately after utcha puja. Hundreds of devotees took part in the feast at the temple.

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