Thankamma stood all alone in the empty ground that faces the Pakkil Sree Dharma Sastha temple in Kottayam.
The same day last year, she was standing here amidst a beehive of activities. People were flowing in and out while traditional goods were being traded for an entire month.
The arrival of Thankamma, believed to be a descendant of Pakkanar, a popular character in Malayalam folklore, at this venue on the first day of the Ramayana month heralds the beginning of the famed Pakkil Vanibham. Because of the deepening COVID-19 fears, this time-honoured tradition has been among the headline events to be cancelled in the State.
“The temple authorities did inform me about the cancellation of the Vanibham, but I am obliged to carry on the tradition and hence decided to come this year too,” she said. The 76-year-old woman from Changanassery has been a part of the event since she turned 13.
Makeshift store
After offering the customary darshan of the main deity here with special permission from the temple authority, she soon opened a makeshift store here to sell her stock of woven baskets and mats.
“She has agreed to be here for at least 15 days as in every year. Though there is no fair this year, people from Pakkil and vicinity have been coming in to purchase goods from her. Tradition stipulates the villagers to make sure that she returns home a satisfied soul,” explained Mahesh Mariyappally, secretary of the committee.
Though Vanibham has been on the wane with the fall of the agrarian economy, the event is regarded as a one-stop market for wares such as woven baskets, mats, agriculture implements, pottery, and wooden furniture.
A long way back
Pallikonam Rajeev, who has carried out extensive research on the history of the Pakkil temple and the custom associated with it, said the history of Pakkil Vanibham could be traced to at least the time when Buddhism began to take root in Kerala. “Households in villages in and around Pakkil set their worn out utensils, brooms, and mats on fire and purchased new ones from the Pakkil Vanibham,” he said.
According to him, this is the for first time in the recorded history of the temple that the trade fair is cancelled.