I come from this place called Thrichambaram in Taliparamba, a small town in those days. When you google for Thrichambaram or Taliparamba, the first thing that you would see is the names of the famous temples in and around! I was born and brought up in this beautiful place! (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taliparamba). For us, people from Thrichambaram, the month of March is very important- wherever you are in the world, the only relevant question is “are you going for the Utsavam”? Thrichambaram temple festival(Utsavam pronounced as Ulsavam) starts on 6th of March and ends on 20th of March (based on the Malayalam calendar).
As kids, more than the festivities around the temple, the markets (ചന്ത in Malayalam) held our attraction. Bangles in all colours and sizes, toys, dolls, balloons- a year long wait was worth it. I
remember looking at Amma expectantly to see if she was going to buy me bangles. It then became a favourite pastime time with my cousin, Bindu, roaming around looking for stuff. Now I look
forward to buying bangles for my nieces, also buying stuff that I really don't need :-) This year, I was back home in March though for a different reason.
From 6th to 16th March, the idols of Krishna and Balaram, the brother who visits him for a fortnight, are taken out in the night (2-3 am) to a place called “Pookkothu Nadu” very close to my house. I remember my mom waking me up and telling me that she could hear the chendamelam (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chenda), and as we get out of the house, you could (hardly) see and hear the neighbors waking up and going to watch the Utsavam. It would be pitch dark and we would find our way with small torch lights or no lights. one of the many stories my grandmother told me was about an ardent devotee who used to visit the temple every day. As she grew old, she couldn’t walk to the temple everyday. She was heartbroken and Krishna promised to visit her - the trip to Pookkothu Nada is supposed to meet his devotee. It is about 1 km from the temple.
Thousands of people gather to watch Krishna and Balaram. The dance is called “thidambu nritham”. The priests carry the idols on their heads accompanied by chenda, manja Vadi (yellow sticks), alavattom, venjamaram and the traditional torches known as pantham. The idols are heavy(roughly 30 kgs each, I am told). The whole place reverberates with the chanting of “Govinda Govinda”. The brothers are playful and the young and old alike run with them. The brothers tease the crowd and sometimes play along. There are times when we would head back home thinking the Utsavam is over, but would hear them running all the way back to Pookkothu Nada. Though I used to feel upset about the fact that only boys run, today I am content watching the brothers dance :-) Women aren’t allowed inside the temple during these fourteen days when the brothers are together!!!
On 17th of March, there are no festivities outside the temple. On 18th, Krishna brings his brother along to show him his town “Naadu valam vekkal”. The houses are cleaned and traditional lamps are lit, welcoming them. I had the opportunity to watch naadu valam vekkal after many years this time. It was a first for my husband. I remember waiting for the procession as a child as my mom prepared to light the lamps. I expected the procession to be a small one in this social media age and surprisingly it was really big and with a lot of women accompanying the idols.
The next day is “aarattu” when the brothers take a dip in the pond (chira) together- you would see the devotees taking a dip at same time! The water in the pond then is considered holy and is sprinkled on people around!
The last day is “koodipiriyal” (literal meaning -termination of the meeting)”. Krishna is so playful that he ignores everything when his brother is around. By evening, the brothers come out to play. While they are playing, Krishna sees someone carrying milk (paloru) and runs behind the milk leaving his brother alone. The only way to distract Krishna to get back to his duties!! Balarama goes/runs back to his temple in Mazhoor (5km away) accompanied by a lot of people chanting “Govinda, Govinda” to return next year! My husband is planning to run next time :-) This festival is also one of the few (or the only one) large temple festivals where there is no presence of elephants in Kerala.
People from Thrichambaram talk for months before the Utsavam and continue to talk about the same for months after. And I continue to chant the same shloka every day that my mom taught me. Help me watch the Utsavam year after year Krishnaa...
For alavattom and venjamaram pictures:
https://www.google.co.in/search?q=alavattom&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari#imgrc=r8h6uOdCOTUKBM:
https://www.google.co.in/search?q=venjamaram&client=safari&hl=en-gb&prmd=mvin&ei=j9atWuCJO4T8vATgwYSwDw&start=0&sa=N&biw=375&bih=628#imgrc=GRNEV03pf3Ju3M:
For details on "thidambu nritham"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thidambu_Nritham
As kids, more than the festivities around the temple, the markets (ചന്ത in Malayalam) held our attraction. Bangles in all colours and sizes, toys, dolls, balloons- a year long wait was worth it. I remember looking at Amma expectantly to see if she was going to buy me bangles. It then became a favourite pastime time with my cousin, Bindu, roaming around looking for stuff. Now I look
forward to buying bangles for my nieces, also buying stuff that I really don't need :-) This year, I was back home in March though for a different reason.
From 6th to 16th March, the idols of Krishna and Balaram, the brother who visits him for a fortnight, are taken out in the night (2-3 am) to a place called “Pookkothu Nadu” very close to my house. I remember my mom waking me up and telling me that she could hear the chendamelam (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chenda), and as we get out of the house, you could (hardly) see and hear the neighbors waking up and going to watch the Utsavam. It would be pitch dark and we would find our way with small torch lights or no lights. one of the many stories my grandmother told me was about an ardent devotee who used to visit the temple every day. As she grew old, she couldn’t walk to the temple everyday. She was heartbroken and Krishna promised to visit her - the trip to Pookkothu Nada is supposed to meet his devotee. It is about 1 km from the temple.Thousands of people gather to watch Krishna and Balaram. The dance is called “thidambu nritham”. The priests carry the idols on their heads accompanied by chenda, manja Vadi (yellow sticks), alavattom, venjamaram and the traditional torches known as pantham. The idols are heavy(roughly 30 kgs each, I am told). The whole place reverberates with the chanting of “Govinda Govinda”. The brothers are playful and the young and old alike run with them. The brothers tease the crowd and sometimes play along. There are times when we would head back home thinking the Utsavam is over, but would hear them running all the way back to Pookkothu Nada. Though I used to feel upset about the fact that only boys run, today I am content watching the brothers dance :-) Women aren’t allowed inside the temple during these fourteen days when the brothers are together!!!
On 17th of March, there are no festivities outside the temple. On 18th, Krishna brings his brother along to show him his town “Naadu valam vekkal”. The houses are cleaned and traditional lamps are lit, welcoming them. I had the opportunity to watch naadu valam vekkal after many years this time. It was a first for my husband. I remember waiting for the procession as a child as my mom prepared to light the lamps. I expected the procession to be a small one in this social media age and surprisingly it was really big and with a lot of women accompanying the idols.
The next day is “aarattu” when the brothers take a dip in the pond (chira) together- you would see the devotees taking a dip at same time! The water in the pond then is considered holy and is sprinkled on people around!The last day is “koodipiriyal” (literal meaning -termination of the meeting)”. Krishna is so playful that he ignores everything when his brother is around. By evening, the brothers come out to play. While they are playing, Krishna sees someone carrying milk (paloru) and runs behind the milk leaving his brother alone. The only way to distract Krishna to get back to his duties!! Balarama goes/runs back to his temple in Mazhoor (5km away) accompanied by a lot of people chanting “Govinda, Govinda” to return next year! My husband is planning to run next time :-) This festival is also one of the few (or the only one) large temple festivals where there is no presence of elephants in Kerala.
People from Thrichambaram talk for months before the Utsavam and continue to talk about the same for months after. And I continue to chant the same shloka every day that my mom taught me. Help me watch the Utsavam year after year Krishnaa...
ചിറ്റാടയും ചെറു ചിലമ്പും ഒരോണവില്ലും
പുൽതാലികൾ തുളസിമാലകൾ പൂണ്ട ദേവാ
തൃച്ഛംബരത്തു തിരുവുത്സവവേല കാണാൻ
കൃഷ്ണാ നിനക്കടിമ ഞാനിതാ കൈതൊഴുന്നേൻ
For alavattom and venjamaram pictures:
https://www.google.co.in/search?q=alavattom&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari#imgrc=r8h6uOdCOTUKBM:
https://www.google.co.in/search?q=venjamaram&client=safari&hl=en-gb&prmd=mvin&ei=j9atWuCJO4T8vATgwYSwDw&start=0&sa=N&biw=375&bih=628#imgrc=GRNEV03pf3Ju3M:
For details on "thidambu nritham"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thidambu_Nritham
Very informative, Manju...and very well written...good work!
ReplyDeleteVery well written Manju. I got a feel of participating in the utsavam
ReplyDeleteഏടത്തിയമ്മേ...കലക്കി...നല്ല എഴുത്ത്...
ReplyDelete