The precincts of the Mannarasala Sree Nagaraja temple at Haripad came alive on Wednesday as hundreds of devotees gathered to celebrate the annual Ayilyam festival.
The temple’s sanctum sanctorum was opened at 4 a.m., marking the beginning of the day’s rituals. Valiyamma Savithri Antharjanam offered darshan to devotees at the nilavara of the illam. A series of traditional rituals followed, including ezhunnallathu, aayilyam pooja, noorum paalum, sarpa bali, guruthi, and thattile noorum paalum.
Devotional and cultural performances such as harinama keerthanam, bhagavatha parayanam, violin and Carnatic fusion concerts, Bharatanatyam, Mohiniyattam, Chakyar koothu, Thiruvathira, and bhajans were also held.
A large number of devotees took part in the mass feast held at the UP School ground near the temple.
To ensure smooth conduct of the event, a special police deployment of around 200 personnel was arranged under the leadership of Kayamkulam Deputy Superintendent of police T. Binu Kumar. The KSRTC operated additional bus services from Kottayam, Thiruvalla, Pathanamthitta, Kollam, Thiruvananthapuram, and other parts of the State.
Published – November 12, 2025 07:40 pm IST
