Ettumanoor Ezharapponnana

The annual Arattu festival held in the Ettumanoor Mahadeva Temple (17km from Kottayam) is popularly known as Ettumanoor Ezharapponnana. The festival falls in the Malayalam month Kumbham (February - March). The major highlight of the festival is the Ezharapponnana Ezhunnallathu on the 8th day which draws thousands of devotees. It is the ceremonial procession of the idol of Lord Shiva on the golden statues of seven-and-half elephants. Each of the seven elephants is two feet high and the eighth one is of one foot only. The other main ritual is thulabharam; i.e the offerings made by the devotees for the favors they received from the deity. Traditional and cultural programmes are held during the ten-day long festival.