Irupathiyetttam Onam

Irupathiyetttam Onam (Malayalam: ഇരുപത്തിയെട്ടാം ഓണം, meaning "Twenty-Eighth Onam") is a unique post-harvest festival celebrated in the Onattukara region of Kerala, India. It takes place exactly 28 days after the main Onam festival (Thiruvonam) of the Malayalam month of Chingam. The festival is most prominently associated with the Oachira Parabrahma Temple in Kollam district and is often referred to as the Oachira Kalakettu (Kala-kettu, meaning "tying of the bull").

Significance and Customs

Irupathiyetttam Onam is traditionally regarded as the "Onam of the cattle" (or animals) and signifies the close relationship between the region's agrarian life and its spiritual traditions.[1]

The customs of the festival reflect a symbolic thanksgiving to the cattle, which were essential to the harvest that precedes the Onam celebrations.

Kalakettu Ritual

The highlight of Irupathiyetttam Onam is the Kalakettu ceremony:

  • Kettukala (Bull Effigies): Giant, decorated effigies of bulls (known as Kettu Kaalakal) are the central feature of the festival. These effigies are elaborately constructed from a framework of wood and bamboo, covered with straw and cloth, and decorated with bright colours and ornaments.[2]
  • Community Participation: The effigies are sponsored and constructed by different karas (sub-divisions or localities) of the Onattukara region. These karas engage in friendly competition to create the most impressive and largest kettu kala.[3]
  • Procession: The effigies are mounted on massive chariots with giant wooden wheels and pulled by devotees and villagers in a grand procession through the fields to the open premises of the Oachira Parabrahma Temple. The event is viewed as a spectacle of collective community effort and agricultural prosperity.[1]

Location

While the festival's practices are rooted in the agricultural traditions of the broader Onattukara region, the major celebration and procession culminate at the Padanilam (battlefield) of the Oachira temple.[4] The temple is a fitting venue as the bull (Kala) is highly revered there, symbolizing the vehicle of the formless deity, Para Brahma.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b "Ochira Kalakettu of Ochira Parabrahma Temple". Kerala Tourism. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  2. ^ "Oachira Parabrahma Temple". DTPC Kollam. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  3. ^ "Oachira Kalavela - Onam Rituals". Kerala Tourism. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  4. ^ "Oachira Kalavela". Kerala Tourism. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  5. ^ "Oachira Parabrahma Temple". Kerala Temples Info. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.