10-day Alpashy fest concludes with arattu ceremony

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The annual Alpashy festival at Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple concluded with the arattu ceremony on Thursday. In the evening, hundreds of devotees accompanied the colourful arattu procession to the Shankumukham beach carrying the idols of Sree Padmanabha Swamy and other deities. At 4.30pm, the idols were taken from the sanctum to mathilakam. The idols of Sree Padmanabha Swamy, Sree Narasimha and Sree Thiruvambadi Sreekrishna were taken through the east gopuram. Members of the Kerala Police accorded the customary salute. The arattu procession featuring elephants and traditional temple orchestra was led by Sree Moolam Tirunal Ramavarma, head of the erstwhile Travancore royal family. The procession passed through the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport where flight operations were suspended until the conclusion of the ceremony. The idols were placed at the Shankumukham mandapam first and then given the ritualistic bath in the sea. Temple thantri led the arattu rituals including abhishekam using sea water and turmeric.The 10-day festival concluded with the arattu procession reaching the temple.