Hundreds of devotees performed Balitharpanam on the auspicious occasion of Karkitaka Vavu at the Trikkannad Tryambakeshwara temple near Bekal here on Saturday.
Braving inclement weather, people from the district, parts of Kannur and even neighbouring Karnataka, converged at the shrine widely regarded as ‘Dakshin Kasi’ to pray for the departed.
The devotees began to stream into the shrine as early as 3 a.m., while some of them had opted to stay there overnight to avoid the heavy rush in the morning.
After taking a dip in the temple pond, the devotees — men and women, aged and young — queued up to receive the conventional ‘ariyum kuriyum’ after offering betel leaves and arecanut to the priest and waited patiently to move to the specially erected pandal on the shores of the Arabian Sea to perform the Balitharpanam ritual.
The Coast Guard personnel and divers kept a close watch on the movement of devotees. The shrine witnessed a steady stream of visitors well past afternoon on Saturday.
The temple authorities had put in place elaborate arrangements to manage the huge crowd and a large number of police personnel were deployed at the site to provide security cover.
Staff Reporter from Malappuram writes:
Thousands performed Balitharpanam at the Nava Mukunda temple at Tirunavaya on Saturday amid enhanced security in the wake of a swollen Bharatapuzha. The rituals that began in the early hours of Saturday continued till afternoon. Elaborate arrangements were made for performance of rituals. Life guards were posted at the Bharatapuzha ghat. Life boats and ambulances were kept ready. People were prevented from entering the river. A strong posse of policemen were on duty at Tirunavaya.