The first and foremost festival used to celebrate in all its pomp and glory in the temple is the “Thalappoli Mahotsavam”. This is solemnized on the Pen-ultimate Day of the “Mandala Pooja” every year. In other words, it usually takes place on the 10th of Dhanu (the 25th of December) when the Vrishchikam has 30 days and otherwise on the 11th of Dhanu (the 26th of December). The entire natives of the village observe penance and practise vegetarian diet during the forty days of the Mandala Pooja. Only after performing ablution at dawn on all the forty days of the Mandala Pooja, the house-wives enter the kitchen and prepare food. The temple and its premises are kept in good trim on the Thalappoli Day and are decorated with flying flags, festoons and colourful lights. The idol on the day is adorned with the exquisite frame having golden flowers (known as Thidampu) adding lustre to the Vigraha and enhancing the importance of the Darshan of the deity on the day. This Thidampu is also used on the Third Friday and Sivarathri. The magnificant sight of the day is the grand procession at midnight from the Ganapathy temple to the Kanjirangottu Bhagavathi temple and back of the fast observing tender girls with open Thalams (plates) on their hands, standing face to face in two parallel rows. On the thalams are the broken coconut halves, rice and the lighted oil-wicks. The oracle of temple, attired in Kancheepuram Satin, having the colour combination of red, maroon and violet used to be dancing through the aisle between the two rows of the young girls. Towards the close of the ceremony he makes Oracular utterances inside the temple. In the fore-front of the processioin, a team of excellent experts famed for Panchavadyam remains playing their various musical instruments. Another team of skilled and superb specialists of the natives beats their drums. The procession is usually accompanied by Three caparisoned elephants.
The NANTAKOM, the sword that represents the symbol of goddess is adored and garlanded and placed on the back of the middle elephant,held tightly and vertically by the hands of the fast observing devotee, who sits on the back of the middle elephant. He is assisted by two or three devotees who sit beside him on the back of the same elephant, fanning off and on the ornamental Alavattom and Venchamaram. The superb blend of the melodious and mellifluous sounds thus produced indeed enthral the entire devotees, participating in the flamboyant festival. The scintillant pyrotechnics that are set off during the procession hold the spectators spell-bound for a long time. In recent years, the pleasant evenings of all the forty days of the Mandala Pooja are now made informative and enriched with the spiritual discourses by erudite scholars and amused by variety entertainments such as dances by young girls, melodious songs and exhilarating debuts in music and percussion instrument (Drum). At mid night, some wood pieces of Jack Tree are piled up and burnt on the specific place in the southern part of the temple. When the procession returns to the temple and circumabulates it, the oracle and the devotee who held the NANTAKOM dissipate the red hot pieces of ember from the fire with hands, without getting burnt.
On the early morning of the final day of the Mandala Pooja, a special pooja called “THUVAL” is conducted in the Sanctum-Sanctorum by the Poojaries of the community. It is strongly believed that, the god, Mahaganapathi is also worshipped by the other Gods on this auspicious occasion and offered with jaggery, banana and tender coconut, all placed on a banana leaf by the Poojaries. It is higly prosperous for the devotees to remain holding the palms of the hands in worship during this splendid spell, marking the close of the festival. Then Appam offered to God will be distributed to the public in Packets. The third Friday in Vrishchikam is also another auspicious day of the temple.
THE POMPOUS PROCESSIONS PROCLAIMING THE HARBINGER OF THE THALAPPOLI MAHOTSAVAM
The four resplendent processions in the late evening, two starting from the south of the temple on the THALAPPOLI DAY and the third coming from the north and the fourth from the east, both on the THALAPPOLI-EVE vie with each other with great elan and éclat to attain perfection and the best performance and virtually stir the pulses of the public on either side of the road around the temple to have a vision of the procession. Hundreds of girls and ladies of Kannanchery and the neighbouring regions neatly and beautifully dressed standing face to face on either side of the road carry open THALAM on their hands containing lighted oil-wicks and pooja flowers and walk in a flamboyant display of flares and folk arts, charming images of various Gods, Caparisoned Elephants, drum-beating ad other musical accompaniments. By the time, the processions converge on the front of the temple, the entire street is swarmed with the devotees pulsated with the various displays taken out in the processions, dipping the temple and the surrounding into a festive spirit.
The significant feature of the MANDAL SEASON in that every night of the forty days is made eventful, Vibrant and lustrous with the ‘VILAKU OFFERINGS’ of the devotees.
