World of Books and Travel

 As a part of our annual spiritual visits, we visited Chowalloor Shiva temple near Guruvayur.  When we reached there we realized that there was some special puja  going on there and  it must be a special and important day in the temple.  We noticed the board saying that the annual celebration of Thiruvathira Mahotsavam has begun.                                                                              (Photo by author) The place was quite crowded,  Thiruvathira Mahotsavam is a 12 day long celebration for the Thiruvathira festival and it was the first day there. January 3rd would be the concluding day and the most important day. is a vibrant annual celebration dedicated to Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati , observed during the auspicious Thiruvathira star in the Ma...

Recently, I had attended our annual "Kudumba Sangamam" (family reunion) in my native place in Kerala. The place was Mundakkottukurissi at Shoranur. The function was attended by more than 100 family members, who had come from different parts. This time I had spent a little more time in this village and I was able to attend some important functions and visit many relatives and places. Visiting some of the temples was a great experience which brought me some nostalgic memories of my childhood and adolescent days. Kunnathu kavu, Mundakkottukurissi We used to visit this temple regularly as a part of our family rituals and light deepas for chuttuvilakku (lighting deepams around the temple). As kids, we used to wait eagerly for Uchar Vela, the pooram festival of the temple, to see the colorful chariots of our own village and the chariots coming from other nearby villages, for this event. We used to dress in our best attires, to compete to take the thalapoli, (arathi) t...

The big banyan tree in the temple compound. Kunnath Kavu, a temple in Mundakkottukurissi village in Shoranur, Palakkad Dist, Kerala. This is our "kudumba kshetram" (family temple). I clicked these shots during my recent visit to my native place, where we had our large family meet, to which people came from all parts of the country. Get more Palakkad Attractions here. Our family members are lighting the lamps. The temple pool. The main festival here is called Vela which takes place in March every year. It is a chariot festival. Chariots will be coming from the neighboring villages also during this festival. We shared our nostalgic memories of the festival, going around the temple. The entrance to the temple. Our family members are lighting the lamps around the temple, called Chuttu vilakku, after having a get together of our extended family.