Like everything else, festivals have undergone vast changes in my native place.
The one that stands out is the Shivaratri festival in the Shiva temple. The temple is administered by the Devaswom Board of Kerala, but an advisory committee is formed for the conduct of the festival, mainly to get sufficient funds for the ten-day festival. Important people like the Police Circle Inspector, office-bearers of the Merchants’ Association, and owners of prominent business houses are included in the committee.
A speciality of the festival is that people belonging to different religions actively participate in it, which starts nine days before Shivaratri. Famous musicians, dancers, Kathakali troupes, nadaswaram experts and other artists from Kerala and even neighbouring states are brought to perform. Kathakali performed late at night attracts many elders sitting in the front row, often nodding their heads, while the youngsters accompanying them sleep soundly, lying on the ground.
The temple is an old one spread over many acres. It is surrounded by a giant compound wall made of stone, believed to have been built overnight by the ‘Bhootgana’ of Lord Shiva in one night. Till recently, there was a hill formed by the remnants of the wall nearby.
During my childhood, most houses used to have guests till the end of the festival. People would go to the temple after supper to enjoy the programmes. The dresses they wore were different from those of today. Women wore sarees, half sarees, or mundu; girls wore long skirts called ‘pavadas’, and boys wore half pants and shirts. Men were usually in white mundu and a ‘thorthu’ tightly wound around their heads or laid on their shoulders. The upper part of their bodies would be bare, as the festival fell in the summer season. All roads in the village were sandy. Only some rich people had chappals on their feet.
No business activity was allowed inside the temple walls. Some stalls would be erected outside. There would be several traders, tricksters, and gamblers busy during the day. The festival would also attract pick-pockets doing brisk business. The gamblers would always be on the lookout for police constables roaming the area. If they spot one, they would wind up the game, take their towels spread on the ground, and disappear.
One stall sold soft sugarcane with blue skin, which was very popular. Though there was a sugar factory nearby, the sugarcane cultivated was of other varieties. Men selling balloons of various sizes, colours, and shapes were another integral part of the festival. Children would be thrilled to have some balloons, which would burst soon. There would always be a crowd of women and girls in front of traders selling things of make-up and items like glass bracelets of different sizes.
The eastern part of the temple was a rice field, which would be empty during the festival. Several tea shops and restaurants would come up there and do brisk business.
As there were no toilets inside or outside the temple, people would relieve themselves outside the southern compound wall, which would be dark at night. The stink would remain for days after the festival as a mark of the recently concluded festival.
