KOCHI: Tripunithura athachamayam, presently known as ‘athaghosham,’ heralding the beginning of the ten-day-long Onam celebrations will be held on August 31. Minister for Tourism and Cultural Affairs A P AnilKumar will inaugurate the atham procession at the Government Boys’ High School at 9 am. Excise Minister K Babu will preside over the function and Civil Supplies Minister T M Jacob will hoist the ‘atham flag’.“Tripunithura athachamayam was started by the Kochi kings. Over the years, it has undergone many changes during the reign of the kings and in the democratic era,” said 89-year-old Elamana Hari, who had served both the Kochi kings and the State Government. “The Kochi kings were keen to include all the representatives of his disciples, irrespective of caste creed or colour, Hari said. There were representatives of Muslims (Nettoor Thangal), Christians (Karingachira Kathanar), a representative from the Fisherfolk (Chembil Arayan) and others,” says Hari.In the earlier days, the athachamayam was taken out from Hill Palace to Thrikkakkara Vamana Moorthy Temple. When Kozhikode Zamorin invaded Vanneri, a province which was under the control of the Kochi state, the Kochi kings decided to confine ‘athachamayam’ just inside the Tripunithura, the head quarters of Kochi Kings.After the official merging of Kochi with Travancore (in 1949), Rama Varma Pareekshith Thampuran had conducted the last ‘athachamayam’, recalled Hari, who was the superintendent of Hill Palace during the reign of Rama Varma Pareekshith Thampuran.After the formation of Kerala State, the people of Tripunithura started to celebrate ‘athachamayam’ as ‘athaghosham.’To bring back the nostalgic memories, the Atham Flag will be brought from Hill Palace on August 30.Meanwhile, Municipal authorities are busy with the ‘pot-hole filling process’ in order to ensure the smooth movement of scores of tableaus, the main attraction of the ‘atham procession.’ “Earlier the repair of the roads were conducted at least a month before the commencement of ‘athaghosham,’ the local people said. But the pot-hole filling will not ensure smooth traffic as the roads will be back to square one soon.The ‘atham procession’ will start at 10.00 am from Government Boys High School ground. Former Fisheries Minister S Sarma will flag off the procession. In the evening floral carpet laying competition will be opened at Scion Auditorium for the public. Plots depicting the contemporary social issues, immortal scenes from epics and relevant matters will be the main attraction of the procession.This year various cultural programmes will be staged at the Mankuthampuran Nagar (Layam Ground) in the evenings. Margam Kali, folk songs, ganamela, kathakali, kathaprasangam, oppana, drama and mega majestic fusion are some of the cultural programmes staged there.The traffic through the town will be rescheduled in connection with the atham procession. Vehicles coming from Chottanikkara side will be deviated to Sea Airport Road from Karingachira and the vehicles coming from Vaikom side will be diverted to the newly opened Mini Bypass to Ernakulam side to avoid traffic bottlenecks.
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