| After the ceremonial Kodiyettu held as sceduled, at 8:00 pm on Sunday this year's Thiruvutsavam festivities have been flagged off. This year also Thantri BrahmaSree M D Vasudevan Namboothiri assisted by Melshanthi Sri Vishnu Namboothiri performed the special poojas by the kodimaram and kodiyettam was completed auspiciously. The devotees turned up in thousands and witnessed the celebrated and blissful occasion. Earlier in the evening, after the 'bhajana' by Puliyannoor Brothers music students of Rajalakshmi Radhakrishnan presented 'keerthanasandhya' a programme of classical and devotional music. It was pleasant to hear twenty odd music pupil both boys and girls performing those keerthans in unison. Popular keerthans like 'mahadeva shiva shambho...','swaminatha paripalayamam....','govardhana giridhara....', 'mamavasadha janani.....', 'pahimam sri rajarajeshwari....' etc were in the list.The programme started off with a semi-classical 'sri ganesha saranam...' and later included popular devotional scores like 'vilayada ithunerama ... '(tamil) and ' rama nama japam thudaruka maname .... '(malayalam) etc. Thillana 'githu dhuniku thaka dhim...' and 'nagumo ....' terminated a fine and sweet musical treat by aspiring musicians.The event was orchestrated by K K Rajeev on violin, Aravind Panamatom on Mridungam, Arun Arunapuram on khatam, and A N S Thampi on mukharshanku. All the devotees who wanted to take part in the 'kavadi khoshayatra(procession) ' attended the special pujas and the 'kappu kettu' function that was held just after the kodiyettu. This ceremony,which was recently introduced, as informed by the Devaswam Officials helps to maintain the piety and divinity of the whole excercise. All devotees who want to take part in the procession to be held on the Shivaratri day( 7th day) tie the talisman or 'kappu' on their hands as a mark of the 'vratham' that needs to be taken up as a part of it. |  Thantri Sri M D Vasudevan Nampoothiri performing the Kodiyettam | ||
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 Chendamelam | Later in the evening a gala fireworks ('vedikettu') sponsored by T D Chandrashekharan, Tharayil enthrilled the devotees. Special items like the gigantic flowerpots, crackers flushing out flags, numerous rockets and plenty of others which thrilled both eyes and ears added colour to the celebration. Following this the Dikku Kodi near the Kanikkamandapom was also raised by the thantri. This year due to health problems for Sri Kodungoor Sridharapanickar, he & party are reported to be unable to attend the festival. |  | |
