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Saturday, December 14, 2013

CHAKKULATHUKAVU KARTHIKA PONGALA-2013

CHAKKULATHUKAVU
KARTHIKA PONGALA-2013
The Karthika Pongala festival will be celebrated at the Chakkulathukavu Bhagavathy Temple at Neerettupuram, near Thiruvalla, on Sunday,15th December,2013.Elaborate arrangements have been made for the devotees to offer pongala (rice kheer) in makeshift hearths at the temple grounds.The celebrations will begin with temple chief priest Radhakrishnan Namboodiri performing Ashtadravya Ganapati homam.Mathew T. Thomas, MLA, will inaugurate a public meeting at 8.30 a.m .Nita Ambani, chairperson of Dhirubhai Ambani Trust, will formally inaugurate the Pongala festival. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State general secretary K. Surendran will light the ceremonial lamp and deliver the keynote address.The temple chief priest will light the main hearth with the sacred fire from the sanctum sanctorum at 9.30 a.m., marking the start of  preparation.
Ensuring a slot:Devotees prepare makeshift hearths on the Chakkulathukavu Bhagavathy Temple grounds, near Thiruvalla, on Saturday for the Karthika Pongala festival to be held on Sunday. —Photo: Leju Kamal
The devotees will prepare the Pongala in and around the temple complex and on either side of the roads within 30-km radius of Chakkulathukavu.The presiding deity will be brought in a ‘Jeevitha’ (a palanquin-like carriage) carried by priests led by temple administrator Manikkuttan Namboodiri to accept the Pongala from the devotees. Union Minister of State for Labour Kodikkunnil Suresh will inaugurate a cultural meet at 5 p.m.The temple chief priest will deliver the benedictory speech. N. Rajashekharan, RSS leader, will deliver the keynote address.C.V. Anandabose, expert committee chairman of the United Nations Affiliate Habitat Alliance, will light the Karthika Sthambhom after the Deeparadhana, marking the finale of the annual event.Actor Manju Warrier will inaugurate the Naree puja to be held as part of the annual temple festival on December 20.


Prof. John Kurakar

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