Nilamperoor Padayani
Out of Kerala’s over 4000 temples, nearly half goes to a goddess called Devi or Bhagawathi. In Bhagwathy temples the annual festivals generally last few days, at least two days. In these festivals in addition to elephant pageantries and mind-prickling temple oriented orchestras and musics, local folk art performances of various hues are a routine. These are generally performed by different casts (there are dozens of casts and sub-casts among Hindus) as offering of their cast to the deity. The Nilemperoor Padayani falls in the category of such performances. The temple is at Kuttanad. The main performance here are Kolamkettu - making effigies of some gods or demons - and Kolamthullal – a ritual dance by carrying the effigies on head or shoulders. The effigies are of Shiva, Bhima and Ravana. The dance performance is really exciting and warranting research. The festival commences on 1st day of Onam (Thiruvonam) and lasts 16 days. The last day celebrations are on mega scale. The elephant pageantry together with accompanying massive temple orchestras and musics with large crowd around literally get the surrounding electrified with excitement. Display of dazzling pyrotechnics make the finale.
Getting There :
Air : Nedumbasseri Airport. Rail : Alappuzha
