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Sree Chinakkathoor Bhagavathy Temple is at Palappuram and about 5 km from Ottappalam, Palakkad, north Kerala. The temple is in the middle of a huge ground where the Chinakkathoor pooram is conducted ever year. There are two shrines namely 'thazhekkavu'and 'melekkavu'. The upper shrine, 'melekkavu' is believed to be older than the lower shrine, 'thazhekkavu'. The priests of the upper shrine traditionally come from the 'kuLangara nair' family of Palappuram. Namboothiri priests do the pujas in the lower shrine and in the ten days of Pooram, they will be in charge of the upper shrine as well.
Contents
Chinakkathoor Pooram
Chinakkathoor Festival is celebrated every year in February-March(makam naal of kumbham).
The highlight of the evening festivities is a grand procession of 28 tuskers. Traditional performances of the Panchavadyam or the temple orchestra and various other art forms like Vellattu, Theyyam, Poothanum thirayum, Kaalavela, Kuthiravela, Aandi Vedan, Karivela, and so on are shown. The Tholppavakkoothu, a ritualistic shadow puppet show, is performed at the temple premises every evening for the 17 days preceding the concluding festival. The festival starts with kuthira (horse) game and ends next day with Theru(Ratham),a beautiful sight is the decoration of theru(Ratham) by Mudaliar tamils of Palappuram, and the procession of sixteen well-decorated 16 models of the kuthira (horse) and the kaala (bull) brought ceremoniously to the temple by devotees.Unlike other Ratham in Tamil Nadu or Kalpathy ,this is not pulled by Vatam(coir) and runs on wooden wheel.
Getting there
Nearest railway station: Ottappalam, about 5 km from the shrine
Nearest airport: Coimbatore in neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu, about 85 km
