Chettikulangara Kumbha Bharani is a significant festival celebrated at the Chettikulangara Devi Temple, one of the ancient temples located at Mavelikkara, Alappuzha in Kerala. The festival is dedicated to the goddess Bhagavathy, a form of the Hindu goddess Durga or Parvati. Kumbha Bharani typically falls in the Malayalam month of Kumbham, which corresponds to February-March in the Gregorian calendar.
What makes the festival stand out among the other festivals is the spectacular event called kettukazhch. Chettikulangara kettukazhcha consists of 13 provincial floats. The dazzlingly decorated structures; six huge and heavily decorated temple cars assumed as horses (Kuthira) and the five smaller ones as chariots (Theru) and effigies of Bhima, Hanuman and Panchali are the highlights of Chettikulangara Bharani pageantry. Kettukazhcha is an offering of the people to the deity and proceeding from different points in the village, representing that particular region, and demonstrate the harmony that is there in these hamlets. Kuthiras have a height of about 70 to 75 feets, and are a union of four parts– Adikkoottu, Kathirakal, Edakkodaram, Prabhada and Melkkoodaram, one above the other respectively.
Preparations for constructing the Kettukazhchas start from Shivarathri, about six to ten days prior to Kumbhabharani. On the evening of Kumbhabharani, the Kettukazhchas are dragged to the temple by hundreds of people, and are paraded at the paddy field in front of the temple. After Bhagavathi’s Ezhunnellippu to bless the Kettukazhchas and people, the Kettukazhchas are taken back to the respective Karas by next morning. The dismantled parts of Kettukazhchas are kept at the ‘Kuthirappura’ of each Karas.
Kuthiyottam is performed as the most important offering to the deity. It is a symbolic human sacrifice to appease goddess Kali. Kuthiyottam is a blend of dance, music and ritual. The boys perform folk dance to Kuthiyottam folk song. In every house vowed to offer kuthiyottam, performance by trained artist will also be hosted alongside teaching the boys Kuthiyottam. Kuthiyottam folk song has tanavattam tala. Kuthiyottam used to be done only in houses in the 13 Karas of the Chettikulangara Temple but after a recent Deva Prashnam it was allowed to conduct Kuthiyottam in the houses outside of the 13 Karas.
Historians attribute the concept of ‘Kettukazhchas’ – similar to the architecture of the ‘Buddha tradition in square, rectangular and pyramid shapes, to the remnants of the Buddha culture which was widely prevalent in the Central Travancore region a few centuries ago.
