The heritage village of Kalpathy here was in the grip of festive spirit with the flag being hoisted for the week-long car festival.
The flag was hoisted around 9 a.m. at Kalpathy Vishalakshi Sametha Viswanatha Swamy Temple, the main centre of the festival. Flags were also hoisted at Manthakkara Mahaganapathy Temple, Lakshmi Narayana Perumal Temple, and Prasanna Mahaganapathy Temple.
A music festival, which adds charm to the event, began on Wednesday on Mani Iyer Road at Chathapuram. This year, the music festival is being organised by a local collective . The District Tourism Promotion Council has backtracked from the responsibility this year citing post-flood financial difficulties.
Major events
The major events of the festival will be held from November 14 to 16. Hundreds of pilgrims and tourists will throng the agraharams on these days. The Devaratha Sangamam, the highlight of the festival, will be held on November 16.
Hundreds thronged Chathapuram at Kalpathy in the morning for an ashtapathy programme held after flag hoisting.
The process of decorating the heavily carved temple cars has already begun. As far as the devotees are concerned, the cars trundling their way through the streets of the agraharams of Kalpathy on the three peak days of the festival will be an unforgettable experience.
The Kalpathy festival is dedicated to Viswanathaswamy, the presiding deity of the major temple in the village. On November 14, the deity will be taken out in a procession. The deities of the new Kalpathy temple, old Kalpathy temple, and the Chathapuram temple are similarly taken out on the next two days.
All the Agraharams in the district will warm up to the festival in a traditional way. It is believed that the Tamil Brahmins who migrated to Palakkad in the 14th Century established 96 agraharams, 18 of which are in Palakkad town.
Technically, the festival starts at Kalpathy in the last week of the Tamil month of Aippasi and ends in the second week of Vaikasi in the village of Thirunellai. The customs and rituals adhere to the Vedic tradition.