The Alpassi festival of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple concluded with the Arat ceremony here on Monday.
People in large numbers waited by the side of the West Fort- Shanghumughom road to watch the procession. The head of the royal family of erstwhile Travancore Moolam Tirunal Rama Varma, wielding the ceremonial sword and wearing the traditional green cap, symbolically led the procession. Other male members of the family accompanied him with drawn swords.
Groups of children carrying the flag and other symbols of Travancore, police personnel, the army band, elephants, and hundreds of people chanting hymns escorted the procession. A group of priests carried the idols of Sree Padmanabha, Narasimha Murthy and Thiruvambadi Krishna in flower-bedecked Garuda Vahanas. The Arat procession passed through the international airport’s runway before culminating at the ‘Arat mandapam’ near Shanghumughom beach.
The idols were later taken back to the temple accompanied by the priests and members of the temple bearing theevetti (lighted lamps).
