Hundreds witness Erumeli pettathullal

The nearly 500-strong Ambalappuzha team this year was led by Kalathil Chandrasekharan Nair. This is his 14th consecutive term as the Samooha Periyon (team leader). The team members waited till they sighted the kite (Krishna Parunthu) in the noon skies. They made their offerings before the deity at the Sri Dharmasastha Temple - Cheriambalam before commencing the Pettathullal. Their slow rhythmic movements soon picked up momentum and they moved to the Nainar Mosque (Vavar Palli) across the road where they were received warmly by the local Jamaat authorities.

They entered the precincts of the mosque and paid obeisance to Vavar. After circumambulating the mosque, they moved along with the jamaat leaders towards the Sri Dharmasastha Temple - Valiambalam, nearly a kilometre down town.


They were received by the Devaswom authorities at the temple gates and invited inside for a short stay.

The Alangad team, led by their Samooha Periyon A.K. Vijayakumar commenced their ritualistic dancing in the afternoon following the sighting of the star in the eastern skies. They too started off from the Cheriambalam but skipped the Nainar Mosque and danced their way to the Valiambalam. More than a thousand devotees participated in the Pettathullal. After converging at the Valiambalam and making traditional offerings there, both the teams would trek to Pampa through the age old forest path to participate in the Pampa Vilakku and Pampa Sadya. They would later move to the Sannidhanam and participate in the Makarajyothi darshan during the Makaravilakku celebration.
Source:TheHindu Jan 13 2012