Thirunakara Festival

Thirunakara Festival is the grand occasion associated with Thirunakara temple of Kerala.The place is a hill known as "Nakkara Kunnu" in the regional language Malayalam. There is a Hindu temple located on the hill and the hill is considered to be a “Sacred Hill” by Hindus. This temple is exactly located in the city of Kottayam. Thirunakkara Mahadeva temple dedicated to Lord Siva is located at the place named after the temple Thirunakkara. The annual ten-day festival at the temple draws to a close with the Aaraattu ceremony. Generally nine caparisoned elephants take part in the Aaraattu procession, which begins in the afternoon.

On the time of the Thirunakara Festival, the tourist get the wonderful opportunity to observe several programs put up by folk artistes. Folk dance forms like Mayilattom, Velakali etc.are presented in the temple premises in the evening. Another major attraction is the Kathakaliperformances during the festival. Inside the premises of the temple, Mayilattom or peacock dance and Velakali are performed by them in the evening. On the third and fourth days of the Thirunakara Festival, Kathakali dance shows are presented by professional artistes and it continues all over the night.

Being the common trend in the state, the grounds of the attached area of the Thirunakara Temple also get converted to a fair ground at the time of the Thirunakara Festival.This colorful and lively fair becomes the meeting ground of a large number of people. Many stalls are set up in the festival. A large variety of engineering and agricultural products are showed at this fair.The atmosphere is cheerful.

The Thirunakara Festival in Kerala concludes with the Aarattu ceremony or the holy bathing ceremony of the idol of Lord Shiva housed in the Thirunakara Temple.The grand march begins in the afternoon. The most striking feature of this splendid procession are the nine elephants who are beautifully decorated. The ornamental accessories of the elephants will surely impress you. All in all, the Thirunakara Festival is celebrated in Kottayam, Kerala with a lot of blissful interest.