Home and virtual rituals mark Karkkidaka vavubali

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Lakhs of believers offered the Karkkidaka vavubali ritual at their homes on Monday. While the luckier ones had the guidance of priests who conducted home visits, a good majority paid obeisance to their ancestors with the help of video and audio guides available on YouTube and social media platforms.Devotees had to take a shift from the usual practice of offering the ritual at ghats and beaches due to the Covid-19 restrictions.

Videos on YouTube was a hit among devotees. Over a dozen guides anchored by priests and scholars received tens of thousands of views in the recent days. One of them, uploaded on Friday, garnered 96,000 views, while three-week-old post got 1.1 lakh views.Priests also helped devotees by sending video and audio guides over WhatsApp.  

Famous temples and beach destinations, considered auspicious for performing vavu bali, like Sree Parasuramswami temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Sree Janardanaswami temple in Varkala and the Thirumullavaram Sree Mahavishnuswami temple in Kollam, wore a deserted look on Monday.

The Devaswom Board, however, allowed devotees to book for tilahomam and pithrupooja, rituals conducted by the priests to pay obeisance for the departed souls, without entering the shrines.Vavu bali was not conducted on the Aluva sandbank and at the Tirunelly Sree Mahvishnu temple, two famed destinations for the ritual. The latter had offered a facility to book pithrupooja, conducted by the priests, as an alternative to offering bali in person.