Tomorrow, my parents will go on a pilgrimage to ‘Mannarassala’ temple in the Alappuzha district of Kerala, roughly about 100 kms from my home. They have my maasi, Indirakutty as company and are also taking our farmhand, Georgekutty to help my achan in his movements. They’d be attending a PN Panicker family ceremony, wherein a snake’s statuette in gold, will be offered to the temple after a special puja to the deity is performed and the ceremony will cover the entire forenoon. My parents should be back home before sunset and I consider that as a good break for them from the monotonous life that they’re leading.
Backdrop.
I shall narrate the story told to me by my maternal grandmother, Mrs PN Panicker during my childhood which has a direct bearing on the ceremony of tomorrow. At her ancestral house in Kainakiri of Alappuzha district there used to be a huge, big banyan tree under whose thicket the snake god was worshipped regularly over many years. She was the elder of the two daughters- their [arents' only children- who used to be very regular in the connected activities. After both of them had got married and on the death of their father, the ancestral property had to be disposed off and in the bargain, the daily puja and other connected activities of the Snake God came to an abrupt end. The new owners, who were Christians, cleared the thicket and the dense undergrowth, killing a few snakes in the bargain, which was to have a direct impact on my grandmother’s family.
It is to clear this ‘historical family error’ that tomorrow’s ceremony is being held. Here’s wishing them well in all their endeavour and hoping that the trip rejuvenates my Achan and Amma.
Backdrop.
I shall narrate the story told to me by my maternal grandmother, Mrs PN Panicker during my childhood which has a direct bearing on the ceremony of tomorrow. At her ancestral house in Kainakiri of Alappuzha district there used to be a huge, big banyan tree under whose thicket the snake god was worshipped regularly over many years. She was the elder of the two daughters- their [arents' only children- who used to be very regular in the connected activities. After both of them had got married and on the death of their father, the ancestral property had to be disposed off and in the bargain, the daily puja and other connected activities of the Snake God came to an abrupt end. The new owners, who were Christians, cleared the thicket and the dense undergrowth, killing a few snakes in the bargain, which was to have a direct impact on my grandmother’s family.
It is to clear this ‘historical family error’ that tomorrow’s ceremony is being held. Here’s wishing them well in all their endeavour and hoping that the trip rejuvenates my Achan and Amma.
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