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| Home > Temple Festivals
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| | Temple Festivals
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 No festival in India is complete without a feast, and the Hindu temple provides feasts during the temple festivals. The attendees spend all day at the temple, enjoying themselves. Temple officials hold special worship and prayer times for the festivals. The temple festivals are celebrated in commemoration of some legend of the temple deity.
A temple festival is concluded with a spectacular fire works display, which is held in the wee hours of the day. The fireworks are presented in innovative patterns and varieties, which make spectators, go into raptures. This famous and mighty exhibit of the magnificent display of fireworks adds to the popularity of the temple festival.
At some temple festivals, caparisoned elephant goes in front with drum on its back, that is beaten to indicate that the God is coming in procession. Six more caparisoned elephants follow at the Pooram Festival. It is celebrated with a colourful procession of caparisoned elephants, parasol exchanges; drum concerts, display of pyro-techniques and refreshing scenes of public participation. The Vadakkumnathan Temple is one of the oldest temples in the state of Kerala. The temple is equally famous for the Thrissur Pooram Festival and is therefore more popularly called the Thrissur Pooram Temple. The Bharani festival at the Kodungallur Bhagawati temple is one of the grandest in Kerala.Thousands from all over Kerala congregate to celebrate this festival amidst great paegentry.
The Mahadeva Temple at Vaikom is one of the most famous and oldest Siva temples in Kerala. The utsavam in this temple is celebrated for twelve days. Some other temple festivals celebrated in Kerala are Attukal Ponkala, Konganpada Festival, Ettumanoor Festival.
Rath Yatra is a famous car festival celebrated mainly in Orissa. It is a greatest temple festival in honour of Lord Jagannath (Lord of the Universe). Three colossal chariots drawn from Puri temple by thousands of pilgrims. Amidst the resounding clash of cymbals, the tumultuous thundering of drums, the three gods, Jagannath, his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra leave their above abode at Puri (the Jagannath temple), to journey to the Gundicha Mandir. Millions of devotees flock to the city to watch the Triad ride in the elaborate chariot through the streets of Puri. The festival is spectacular, the occasion distinctive and the aura spiritual.
Similar festivals, on a smaller scale, take place at Ramnagar (near Varanasi), Serampore (near Calcutta) and Jagannathpur (near Ranchi). Chariot festivals are celebrated widely in India and feature local flavors.
Some temple festivals involve peculiar ceremonies like fire-walking; piercing a metallic wire right through the tongue or sides of mouth; lashing oneself with a whip; slashing at the breast and forehead with swords; piercing the abdomen; and carrying the kargam (an earthen pot containing fire) on the head.
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