Hundreds thronged the village of Kalpathy on Thursday evening to witness Devaratha Sangamom, marking the culmination of the annual car festival of the Sree Vishalakshi Sametha Sree Vishwanathaswami temple.
The roads leading to the Tamil Brahmin settlement remained overcrowded with pilgrims and tourists as chariots of the Viswanathaswamy temple and three satellite temples were pulled through the village streets by night. The specially arranged chariots carried images of Vishalakshi Sametha Sree Vishwanathaswami, Ganapthy, Valli Devanana Sametha Subrahmanya Swami, and Manthakkara Maha Ganapathy. The festival began on Thursday with the Radharohanam ritual held at the Old Kalpathy Lakshmi Narayana Perumal temple and the Chathapuram Prasanna Mahaganapathy temple.
Educational institutions and government offices in Palakkad remained closed on Thursday.
The Devaratha Sagamom was preceded by Upanishad recitation, Vedic discourses, and Sree Visalakshi Sametha Viswanatha Swamy Kalyana Ulsavam.
The celebrations will end with Ezhunnellippu and Dhwajavarohanam in the early hours of Friday.
There was a huge rush of pilgrims from Tamil Nadu since early morning to the village.
Foreign tourists
A number of foreign tourists were also present to witness the celebrations.
For devotees, the cars trundling their way through the streets of the Agraharams (Brahmin settlements) on the three peak days of the festival will be an unforgettable experience.
The festival is next only to the Puri Jagannath Swamy temple car festival. There are similar festivals in Thiruvarur, Mayavaram, and Avinashi in Tamil Nadu.