T’puram: The return procession of the Navaratri idols to Padmanabhapuram began on Friday after nine days of Navaratri rituals and a day of ceremonial halt in the capital. Devotees accorded a traditional welcome to the idols of Thevarakkettu Saraswathi Devi, Velimala Kumaraswamy and Munnuttinanka with thatta pooja and a shower of flowers.The procession is expected to reach Padmanabhapuram by Saturday evening. Kumaraswamy and Munnuttinanka will subsequently be taken to their respective temples.On Friday morning, Saraswathi Devi was taken in a ceremonial procession on an elephant from Navaratri Mandapam to Killippalam. Kumaraswamy was brought in a palanquin from Aryasala Devi Temple, Chalai, while the idol of Suchindram Munnuttinanka was taken from Chenthitta Temple.The three idols converged at Killippalam, where the police forces of Kerala and Tamil Nadu jointly accorded them a guard of honour. The return procession commenced after the ceremony.
Kerala and Tamil Nadu police forces jointly accords guard of honour to the Navaratri idols as they return following the culmination Navaratri festival
Vellikkuthira (Silver Horse), a traditional ceremonial mount associated with the annual inter-state Navaratri festival, was also taken out as part of the procession’s formal announcement.As part of the journey, the idols were accorded irakkipooja at Neyyattinkara Sree Krishna Swamy Temple. The ritual will be held at Kuzhithurai Mahadevar Temple, Kanyakumari on Saturday before the procession reaches Padmanabhapuram.The annual procession is a long-standing tradition linking Kerala and Tamil Nadu, with the sacred idols travelling between their ceremonial venues in Thiruvananthapuram and their traditional homes in the Padmanabhapuram region.
