OCHIRA KALI FESTIVAL

OCHIRA KALI FESTIVAL

The Oachira Temple is associated with the Oachirakkali festival which is an extremely ancient temple located in Oachira in Kollam district of Kerala. According to the Puranas, this temple is one of the prominent holy places of Kerala as well as the nation. This very primeval pilgrimage center for Hindus which is centered on the ParaBrahma temple that is dedicated to the Param Brahman or Ohmkaram, in the local language of Kerala who is known as the Universal Consciousness and covers thirty-six acres of land of the state.The Oachirakkali Festival is held in the state of Kerala and this is a famous ritual performed here during the month of June and it includes mock-fighting in muddy water by traditional martial art experts. This festival is also known as the festival of cattle. In this festival, huge "Eduppu kala" which is gigantic bull shaped structures are created. They are then pulled on giant wheels to the Oachira Temple from the place where they are made. These structures are very heavy and there are around 50 such structures. It is the biggest festival in "Onattu Kara" which is an integral part of the celebrations.

According to the legends Oachirakkali was actually a war exercise performed annually by soldiers of Kayamkulam Raja. Soldiers have its place to the above Karas which met together at Oachira in the month of Mithuna according to the Malayalam calendar every year and performed war-like exercises.This is what is called Oachirakkali.During the years of the Kayamkulam Rajah, Oachirakkali was started after the blessings of nearby Nambiathiris, who are high stated Nambudiri Brahmins, having the knowledge of Dhanurveda or the science of archery who were also experts in Smrithy Sasthras.The Oachirakkali is also known as Oachira Dance and the Oachirakkali Festival is a kind of ancient, but organized mock battle. Unlike all the other temples in Kerala, there is no shrine or idol at the Oachira Temple. During the Festival of Oachirakkali in Kerala, many rows of men are dressed up in ancient soldier’s costumes. They wave their shields and wooden swords and advance and move back to the tempo of traditional drums.The principal idol of this temple is considered as the Omkaram or the root of the Hindu religion and is considered very sacred among the devotees. In this festival people come in crowd to have the glimpse of the deity and seek his blessings. to Ochira Temple, situated near the National Highway between Kollam and Alappuzha, during the annual festival called Ochira Kali. If you prefer some attire in white to watch the festival proceedings, then better not go during the two days of the festival. For it involves a mock battle between two groups to the sound of drums in a waterlogged field called Padanilam. Boys and men split in two groups jump into the field and engage in a mock battle. The battle is fought with sticks instead of swords and the participants splash the muddy water at each other. The battle commemorates the historic battle fought between the erstwhile Kayamkulam and Ambalapuzha kingdoms. 

Another noted feature of the Ochira temple is that, like the traditional temples, which have definitive structural layout and mode of worship, the temple here does not have a proper structure or an idol for the visitors to worship. The whole concept of worship revolves around the Parabrahmam or the universal consciousness. This unique temple setting itself is a big attraction to hundreds of visitors coming to the temple every day, irrespective religious faith.

Prof. John Kurakar