A delegation from Kalpathy visited Mayiladuthurai, Kumbakonam, and Thanjavur temples in Tamil Nadu on Sunday ahead of the upcoming Kalpathy car festival.
The visit to Tamil Nadu temples was a ritual and considered auspicious, as the festival of Mayuranathaswamy Temple at Mayiladuthurai is widely believed to be the forebear of Kalpathy car fest.
The Tamil Brahmins who came to Kerala in the 13th century and made settlements at several places, including Kalpathy, were believed to have been from Mayiladuthurai, Kumbakonam, and Thanjavur. “They were Vedic scholars, and they continued their traditional scholarship and other skills after settling here,” said K.S. Krishna, president of the New Kalpathy Gramajana Samooham.
The Kalpathy car festival or Ratholsavam is a replica of the car festival being held at Mayiladuthurai in the last 10 days of the Tamil month of Aippasi. The people at Kalpathy have been celebrating the 10-day car festival for centuries coinciding with the Mayiladuthurai festival.
“There is no festival for us without commemorating our forebears and forefathers. That’s why our delegation visited the temples in Mayiladuthurai, Kumbakonam, and Thanjavur, and sought their blessings,” said Mr. Krishna.
The delegation submitted the Kalpathy festival booklets at the Mayiladuthurai, Kumbakonam, and Thanjavur temples, and invited their counterparts there to the Kalpathy festival. C.V. Murali Ramanathan, Chathapuram Gramajana Samooham secretary, led the delegation.
Four major temples of Kalpathy are involved in the annual car festival being held here in November. The officials of the Sri Visalakshi Sametha Sri Viswanatha Swamy Devaswom, Manthakkara Sri Mahaganapathy Temple (New Kalpathy), Sri Lakshminarayana Perumal Temple (Old Kalpathy), and Prasanna Mahaganapathy Temple (Chathapuram), held discussions with the district revenue and police authorities.
Elaborate arrangements are being made for the festival. The police will be involved in controlling the crowds as well as the vehicular traffic. There will be traffic restrictions to the roads leading to Kalpathy.
Special care will be taken to prevent the outbreaks of any communicable diseases during the festival. Even while ensuring uninterruptible power and water supply, noise and environment pollution will be minimised. Kalpathy officials demanded that efforts to control the crowds and the traffic should not affect the centuries-old Agrahara traditions.
