Thousands of devotees converged on the Aluva Manappuram on the banks of the Periyar to propitiate their ancestors by performing Karkidaka vavu bali on Tuesday.
The myth has it that Lord Rama had performed the last rites of the great bird Jatayu on the banks of the Periyar here.
The river was dotted with plantain leaves, darbha grass, sesame, cooked rice etc when thousands completed the ‘bali tharpanam’ (paying homage to their ancestors) here by the afternoon.
The Devaswom authorities had set up around 50 makeshift ‘balippuras’ on the Manappuram to perform the rituals. Around one lakh faithful performed the rites on Tuesday. The rituals got under way at 4 a.m. with customary pujas. The ceremonies at the Siva temple continued up to noon. Hundreds of priests have assisted the devotees.
The police had erected barricades at prominent places to prevent the devotees from entering the deep side of river. The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation operated special services to facilitate conveyance of the devotees. A strong posse of the local police was also deployed in the area.
During the day, a large number of devotees performed the rituals at the Adwaitasramam near here.
