Pathanamthitta Malayalappuzha Devi temple annual festival will begin on 24^th February and end on March 6^th, 2010. The opening ceremony of the festival will be Kodiyettu and with arattu the festival will be concluded.

Express Buzz reports:

The annual festival of Malayalappuzha Devi temple near here will be held from February 24 to March 6. The festival will begin with kodiyettu ceremony under the leadership of thantri Adimuttathu Madom Sukumara Bhattathiri between 8.40 p.m. and 9.20 p.m. on February 24. Kodiyettu annadanm will be offered to the devotees who gather there to offer worship earlier in the afternoon.

Utsabali will be held on all days at 11.30 a.m. from the second day of the festival  on February 25 to March 5. Utsavabali darsan for the devotees will be available at 2 p.m. on these days.

A dance programme will be staged by Aranmula-based Chilanka Dance and Music Academy at 8 p.m. on February 25. Major-set Kathakali will be held at 10 p.m. on February 27 and 28, Pakalpooram and Pancharimelam sponsored by Nalloorkara at 3 p.m. on March 1, orchestra and dance events will be the cultural programmes to be held as part of the festival.

Pallivetta will be held  at 9 p.m. on March 5. The arattu ceremony, including the jeevitha procession, will be held  on March 6. The festival will conclude with arattu return procession, kodiyirakku and valiyakanika at 3 a.m. Elaborate programmes will be held at Thombil Kottaram, the moolasthanam of Malayalappuzha temple, on the kodiyettu day on February 24. As part of the programme, the temple thantri would be accorded a reception at the Kottaram, Kottaram Samrakshana Samithi president K K Haridas and secretary P R Udayakumar said.

In connection with the kodiyettu, a procession would be taken out from the Kottaram to the temple at 3 p.m., they said.

Attukla Pongala is the biggest festival in Thiruvananthapuram. It is celebrated at Attukal Bagavathy Temple in the city in a grand scale. It is expected that Millions of devotees will participate in this temple festival. Thiruvananthapuram will be under traffic regulations for a week during Attukal Pongala festival.

Express Buzz reports:

The traffic police will impose traffic regulations in the city from February 20 to 28 in view of the pongala festival at Attukkal temple. One-way traffic system will be implemented in the Manacaud Junction-Attukkal stretch during this period. Vehicles from Manacaud Junction should proceed through Manacaud Market Junction-Post Office Junction to Library Junction and be parked at the parking ground of the temple.

The vehicles returning from the temple should proceed through the road in front of Gouri Vandanam Hotel to Chiramukku and then to Iranimuttom or Medamukku. The vehicles will not be allowed to return to Manacaud Junction through Manacaud Market junction road.

The vehicles from Iranimuttom and Konchiravila to the temple junction should proceed from Medamukku through Attukkal Driving School Junction-Valiappally-Manacuad Junction-Manacuad Post Office Junction route to the temple.

Vehicles will not be allowed to proceed through the Attukkal Driving School Junction-Library Junction route to Manacuad Junction. Medium-sized KSRTC buses will be allowed to park at the temple parking ground for operating services. KSRTC buses to Vizhinjam and Thiruvallam will be diverted from 4 p.m. on festival days through Vettimurichakotta.

Killippalam-Band Road-Iranimuttom-Chiramukku road will be used as  emergency road. Parking will not be allowed on the sides of this road during festival days. Apart from this, Chiramukku-Medamukku-Chenkittavila-Valiyapally-Kamaleswaram-Maharanimukku road will be used as the second emergency road.Parking will not be allowed on the sides of this road also.

Parking will also be not allowed at Manacaud Junction, Library Junction, Driving School Junction, Medamukku, Chirammukku, in front of the temple, Library Junction-Temple Road, Valiyappally and Medamukku-Chenkittavila road. Parking will not be allowed on the parking ground of the temple on Pongala day.

There will also be restrictions on parking at Manacuad Junction. Private buses carrying devotees should drop them at MSK Nagar and park the buses at MSK Nagar.

Annual festival will be held in February – March months in Thiruvalla Sree Vallabha Temple, one of the 101 Tirupatis in India. In 2010, the celebrations will be held from February 17 to 26 in 2010. Pantheerayirom and Kodiyettu are the important events during the temple’s annual festival.

The Hindu Published:

The plantains being carried to the Sree Vallabha Temple in a ceremonial procession from the nearby Thukalasserry Mahadevar Temple on Sunday morning for the auspicious ‘Pantheerayirom’ vazhipadu as a prelude to the 10-day annual temple festival that begins on February 17, 2010, Wednesday.

The annual ‘Pantheerayiram’ vazhipadu, offering of 12,001 plantains of a special variety to the presiding deity, was held at the centuries’ old Sree Vallabha Temple in Thiruvalla on Sunday (14^th February, 2010) morning.

The ritualistic offering was held as a prelude to the 10-day annual temple festival that begins on Wednesday. The 10-day annual festival at the Sree Vallabha Temple, regarded as one among the 101 ‘Tirupatis’ in the country, will be held from February 17 to 26.

The ceremonial procession carrying the plantains began from the Mahadevar Temple at Thukalasserry at 7.30 a.m. Hundreds of devotees took part in the procession carrying plantains in baskets.

The plantains were offered to the presiding deity during the ‘pantheeradi-puja’ at the Sree Vallabha Temple around 8.30 a.m. and were distributed as ‘prasadom’ among the devotees later.

Kodiyettu ceremony

The Kodiyettu ceremony, marking the beginning of the annual festival, will be held in the muhurthom between 12.15 p.m. and 12.35 p.m. on Wednesday. The temple chief priest (Tantri), Parameswaran Vasudevan Bhattathiripad of Memana Illom, will hoist the ceremonial flag after performing the customary rituals before the holy temple mast.

The auspicious ‘Utsavabalidarshanam’, as part of the annual festival, will be held at 4 p.m. from February 18 to 25. Kathakali performaces by leading artistes will be held on all the 10-days.

The Pallivetta ritual as part of the festival will be held near the Govindankulangara Devi Temple on February 25 evening.

The 10-day festival will come to a close with the Arattu ceremony on February 26 afternoon. The ritualistic holy dip, Arattu, will be held at the Arattu kadavu in river Manimala near the Thukalassery Mahadevar Temple.

Attukal Pongala is festival dedicated to Attukal Devi and celebrated at Attukal Devi or Attukal Bhagavathi Temple, Thiruvananthapuram or Trivandrum, Kerala. It is one of the largest religious congregations of women in India. Attukal Pongala 2010 date is February 28, 2010. It is observed during Malayalam month of Kumbham (February – March). Attukal Pongala 2009 was registered in Guinness Book as the largest gathering of women in the world which attracted approximately 27 lakh devotees.

Attukal Pongala is a festival during which women devotees offer Pongala or the boiled rice to the presiding deity, Goddess Parvati or Attukalamma, in the Attukal Devi Temple. Women cook Pongala in the temple premises and offer to the Goddess with utmost fervor.

Bharani Utsavam or Kumbhabharani Utsavam is the major festival celebrated at Chettikulangara Temple in Kerala. Bharani Utsavam 2010 date is February 20, 2010. Bhagavathi Temple is located in Alappuzha district of Kerala. The festival falls on Bharani Nakshatra day which comes in Kumbha month as per Malayalam Calendar Kolla Varsham. It is popularly known as Kumbha Mela of South India.

The major highlights of Kumbhabarani are – Kuthiyottam and Kettukazha. Kuthiyottam is a ritualistic dance offered daily to the presiding deity of Chettikulangara Temple which starts a week before the festival of Kumbhabharani. Kettukazha is a structure built in paddy fields and dragged towards the temple on the festival day. Millions of devotees are expected to visit the temple during the festival of Kumbha Bharani this year, 2010.