THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The ‘Niraputhari’ festival, which rings in the season of harvesting and symbolises plentitude, was celebrated at the Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple here on Wednesday. At a meeting organised by the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, the crop harvested from the Putharikandam maidan was accepted by the head of the Travancore royal family Marthanda Varma from Mayor K Chandrika. The crop was then taken to the temple and the chief priest, after cleansing it in the water of Padmatheertham, offered a few strands to the deity as a symbol of the first yield of the harvest season. The meeting, inaugurated by Devaswom Minister V S Sivakumar, was attended by Shashi Tharoor MP and former law minister M Vijayakumar. Former mayor Jayan Babu, during whose tenure the Putharikandam was renovated and the ritualistic cultivation of paddy restarted, also was present. Members of the royal family, including Pooyam Thirunal Gowri Parvathy Bai, Aswathy Thirunal Gowri Lakshmy Bai and Aditya Varma, attended the function. Mayor Chandrika expressed her happiness at the Corporation’s success in sustaining a ritual that was part of the traditions of the temple. The dates for ‘nira’ and ‘puthari’ were, according to the practice, selected by the royal family from a list of auspicious dates communicated from the temple. After the strands of paddy were placed in the sanctum sanctorum, beaten rice (aval), made from the newly-reaped crop was also offered to the Lord along with a preparation of ‘pal payasam’. Later, after a small portion was taken to the palace, the rest of the crop was distributed to the priests and employees of the temple. In the olden days, when the whole of Putharikandam was a paddyfield, the crop would suffice for the requirements of the palace and the temple servants.
Comments
0 comment