Pooram Kuli-Aarattu Festival in Veerabhadra temple-Cheruvathur-Kasarkod District-Kerala-India

Ārāttu () is an annual ritual performed during

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

temple festivals in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

, India, in which a priest bathe the idol of a

deity A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...

by dipping it in a river or a

temple tank Temple tanks are water well, wells or reservoirs built as part of the temple complex near Indian temples. They are called pushkarini, kalyani, kunda, sarovara, Theertham, tirtha, talab, pukhuri, ambalakkuḷam, etc. in different languages and r ...

. It is mainly carried out at the end of a temple festival. ''Ārāttu'' is celebrated twice annually—the

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a he ...

festival (March - April) and the

autumn Autumn, also known as fall (especially in US & Canada), is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southern Hemisphe ...

festival (October - November). A festival normally lasts 10 days.

Major festivals

One of the important Arattu in

is conducted at Padmanabhaswamy Temple,

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

Travancore royal family The Travancore royal family was the ruling house of the Kingdom of Travancore. They signed a treaty with the British in 1788, thereby adopting British dominance. Later, in 1805, they revised the treaty, leading to a diminution of royal authorit ...

, procession is carried out to Shankumugham Beach for the ceremony.Arattu at Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple 2013
/ref> The operations at the

Trivandrum International Airport Thiruvananthapuram International Airport is an international airport that serves Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, India. Established in 1932, it is the first airport in the state of Kerala and the fifth international airport of ...

stops twice a year for the procession to pass through the runway to the Shankumugham Beach. At

Ambalappuzha Sree Krishna Swamy Temple Ambalappuzha Sree Krishna Swamy Temple is an Indian Hindu temple dedicated to Krishna at Ambalappuzha in Alappuzha district of Kerala. The temple is believed to have been built during 15th century CE by the local ruler Chembakasserry Pooradam T ...

, the festival starts with a flag hoisting, after bathing the deities, ''ambalappuzha palpayasam'' (a sweet pudding) is offered to the gods. The eight-day long festival at

Sree Poornathrayeesa Temple Sree Poornathrayesa temple (in Malayalam: ) is a Hindu temple situated in Thrippunithura, Kochi, India, Kochi, the capital of the former Kingdom of Cochin, Kerala, India. The temple is considered among the greatest temples in Kerala and was t ...

Thrippunithura Thrippunithura or Tripunithura (Malayalam:തൃപ്പൂണിത്തുറ) is a prominent historical and residential region in the city of Kochi in Kerala, India. Located about 7 km (4 mi) from the city centre, Tripunithura wa ...

is concluded with an ''aaraattu''.

In popular culture

A 1979 Malayalam film directed by

I. V. Sasi Irruppam Veedu Sasidaran (28 March 1948 – 24 October 2017) was an Indian film director who made over 110 films predominantly in Malayalam, in addition to Tamil and Hindi languages. In 2015, he was awarded the J. C. Daniel Award, the highest a ...

was titled ''

Aarattu Ārāttu () is an annual ritual performed during Hindu temple festivals in Kerala, India, in which a priest bathe the idol of a deity by dipping it in a river or a temple tank. It is mainly carried out at the end of a temple festival. ''Ār� ...

'', and a 2021 film directed by

B. Unnikrishnan Unnikrishnan Bhaskaran Pillai (born 14 August 1970), known mononymously as B Unnikrishnan, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, distributor and exhibitor who works in the Malayalam film industry. Early life Unnikrishnan. B. was born on 14 ...

also use the same title, both the films are otherwise unrelated to the ritual.

References

Culture of Thiruvananthapuram Hindu festivals in Kerala {{reli-festival-stub

Major festivals

In popular culture

See also

References