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The 'Aaarattu' festival was traditionally celebrated at the Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram with ceremonial elegance and splendour on Monday.
The uniqueness of the 'Arattu' at Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple is that the head of the royal family of the erstwhile Travancore kingdom still escorts the idols of deities during the procession donning his traditional attire. The idols are taken for the holy bath in a grand procession charming everyone with its magnificence. Later, the idols are taken to Shankumugham Beach and given a purifying bath in the sea. The Aarattu Festival is also celebrated at the Sree Krishnaswamy Temple at Ambalapuzha with much brilliance, even though it does not match the celebrations at the Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram. Apart from the traditional holy bath of the idol, an important feature of the festival as celebrated in this temple is that 'Ambalapuzha Palpayasam', a sweet dish, is always offered to the lord. The Aarattu Festival is celebrated twice each year. It is once celebrated in the months of October - November and yet again in March - April. On both occasions, this festival lasts for ten days. 'Aarattu' is an annual ritual performed during Hindu temple festivals in Kerala, in which a priest bathes the idol of a deity by dipping it in a river or a temple tank. After bathing the deities, palpayasam (a sweet pudding) is offered to the gods. (ANI)
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