Lighting Ohm Karthikavilakkku

Trikarthika-----Karthika Vilakku

Trikarthika Utsavam is an annual festival associated with the famous Kumaranalloor Devi Temple, which is situated at Kumaranalloor near Kottayam. This auspicious event is observed during the November-December month. The striking feature of this festival is that the offerings are made in the premises of the Udayanapuram Temple, situated near Vaikom, and the Vadakkunnathan Temple at Thrissur. This particular tradition has an interesting legend behind it. As the story goes, the goddess of the Kumaranalloor Devi Temple was returning from her bath during the Kartika (October-November) month. Attracted by her beauty, the deities of the Udayanapuram Temple and Vadakkunnathan Temple stepped out of their respective sanctums and stood near the temple walls ogling at the goddess. The temple priests, unable to find their deities, searched desperately and finally found them at the southern walls of their respective temples. Since then it has been a tradition of making offerings to the deities on the walls, during the Kartika month. The major highlight of this festival is the lighting of a multitude of oil lamps in the temple premises during the evening, creating a dazzling spectacle called the Karthika Vilakku.