All set for Vallasadya at Aranmula
The annual Vallasadya ritualistic feast and boat festival is set to begin at the Aranmula Sree Parthasarathy temple in Kerala. The event involves 51 traditional snake boats and will run from July through September, featuring ceremonial offerings and boat races.
Why it matters
This event is a significant cultural and religious tradition in Kerala that preserves local heritage and community cohesion through ancient boat-rowing customs.
The rhyme and rhythm of snake boats (palliyodams) have once again started reverberating across the banks of the Pampa with the season of Vallasadya, a unique ritualistic feast attached to the Onam festivities at the Aranmula Sree Parthasarathy temple, all set to begin here on Sunday.
A cherished tradition, Vallasadya is an offering made by devotees to the presiding diety of the temple. Organised by the Palliyoda Seva Sanghom (PSS) in association with the Travancore Devaswom Board, the feast is hosted primarily for the oarsmen of the palliyodams that arrive from villages along the banks of the Pampa. The crews are accorded a ceremonial reception at the temple ghat before being escorted into the temple.
In keeping with tradition, the oarsmen offer paddy, tobacco and betel leaves to the deity before circumambulating the temple while singing Vanchippattu, the traditional boat songs that have echoed through Aranmula for generations.
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