A Temple Feast

The streets of Valvettithurai are a hive of activity and a blur of bright colours. You can feel the excitement brewing in the air. Today marks the beginning of a fifteen-day Hindu festival, held in honour of Lord Shiva’s wife, goddess Amman, the patron goddess of Valvettithurai’s main kovil (temple). The festival is for devotees to give thanks to the gods for all the good things bestowed upon them during the year.

Pre-festival activities have set the momentum for things to come: streets have been washed with water, portable lamps erected, and shopfronts decorated with palmyra palms and bunches of bananas. Women in bright silk saris collect jasmine flowers to wear in their hair, while the men make the final touches to the colourful banners and flags that decorate the chariots. Specific ceremonies are set to take place each day throughout the festival, and today is the hoisting of the flag ceremony.