Sree Padmanabha Temple Arattu

'Pallivetta' (Royal hunt) and 'Arattu' (Holy bath) are the two important rituals held as part of the festivals in some of the major temples in Kerala. The presiding deity of Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple is Lord Vishnu, reclining on the serpent 'Anantha' The uniqueness of the Arattu at Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple is that the Head of the royal family of the erstwhile Travancore kingdom escorts the idols during the procession donned in his traditional attire.

During Pallivetta, the Head of the royal family shoots a tender coconut using a bow and arrow. This ritual is symbolic of Lord Vishnu hunting down the demon of evil in a forest and is held in front of the Sundaravilasam Palace inside the Thiruvananthapuram East Fort. The Pallivetta is held on the eve of Arattu.

Arattu festival is the closing ceremony of the ten day festival. There are two such festivals every year, one in the Malayalam month of Thulam (October-November) and the other in Meenam (March-April). The Arattu is a ceremonial procession of the Lord at the close of the ten-day-festival. The previous night, there is a procession called pallivetta inside the fort encircling the temple.

On the day of the Arattu, His Highness theEx-Maharaja enters the corridor of the temple, andafter some rituals, the procession takes outthrough the eastern gate with the accompaniment ofnagaswaram, drum etc. His Highness with sword inhand and escorted by armed guards, infantry,mounted police, officers etc. leads the processionto the Sanghumugham beach. A caparisoned elephantgoes in front with drum on its back which isbeaten to indicate that the God is coming inprocession. Six more caparisoned elephants follow.The procession leaves the temple gate at about 5PM and takes about an hour to reach the seashore.As the procession leaves the ramparts of the fort,a salute of 21 guns is made. On reaching the beachthe ceremonial bath is taken in thesea.

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