Every year, a few days before the Navaratri celebrations, Kanniyakumari district, once part of the erstwhile Travancore, witnesses a spectacular event, whose history dates back to more than 200 years. It continues to remind the local people of the strong cultural bonds between Tamil Nadu and Kerala beyond political boundaries. Three deities — Goddess Saraswathi from the Thevarakattu (place of worship) of the Padmanabhapuram Palace, Lord Kumaraswamy of Kumarakoil, and Munnurrunankai Amman from Suchindram where the Thanumalayan Swamy Temple is situated — are carried to Thiruvananthapuram to take part in the Navaratri celebrations and music festival. Performing at the festival is considered a prestige by Carnatic musicians from Tamil Nadu in the past and the present.
Started by Dharmaraja
“The tradition was started by Dharmaraja, the successor of Marthanda Varma, the modern architect of Travancore, after he initiated the process of shifting the capital from Padmanabhapuram to Thiruvananthapuram in the 1770s, which was completed in 1795,” said A.K. Perumal, author of Thenkumariyin Kathai (The History of Kanniyakumari in the South).
The deities are still carried by men on their shoulders all the way to Thiruvananthapuram from Suchindram, where the journey of Munnurrunankai Amman begins with state honours and a police salute, before reaching Padmanabhapuram. Kumaraswamy from Kumarakoil, not far from the Padmanabhapuram Palace, meets Her on the way, and together they reach the palace for an overnight rendezvous. From the palace, all the three proceed to Thiruvananthapuram over three days.
“The procession is led by the ‘udavaal’ (ceremonial sword) of Marthanda Varma, which is kept in the archives of the Padmanabhapuram Palace. It is the sword the king placed before the Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, pledging to rule the country on behalf of the deity,” said Mr. Perumal.
Handing over the sword
Every year, a Minister from Kerala in charge of the Devaswom Board visits Padmanabhapuram and hands over the sword to a Tamil Nadu Minister or a senior official of the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Board. They, in turn, hand it over to the person who will carry it to Thiruvananthapuram. Munnurrunankai Amman and Lord Kumaraswamy are carried on palanquins, while the idol of Goddess Saraswathi is carried on a decorated elephant.
“The Saraswathi idol was worshipped by Tamil poet Kambar, the author of Kambaramayanam. According to Travancore tradition, the idol was given to the ancestors of the Travancore kings,” said historian M.G. Sasibooshan, who also served as the honorary director of the Swathi Thirunal Museum. Mr. Perumal agreed with the local tradition that Kambar, after falling out with the Chola king, went to the Chera country and lived under the patronage of Chera kings.
After a stay at Kulithurai, on the border of Tamil Nadu, the deities reach Neyyattinkara and proceed to Thiruvananthapuram. According to a report in The Hindu this year, the idols of Goddess Saraswathi (mounted on a caparisoned elephant), Lord Kumaraswamy (atop a silver horse), Munnurrunankai Amman (in a decorated palanquin), and the ceremonial sword (carried at the front of the procession) were welcomed at a reception held at Killipalam by the State government with the support of the Union Ministry of Tourism. As many as 30 members of the Women’s Police Battalion gave a guard of honour to the procession.
Later, members of the Travancore royal family received the idols at the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple. The idol of Goddess Saraswathi and the ‘udavaal’ are installed at the Navaratri Mandapam, where the music festival takes place. The idol of Lord Kumaraswamy and the 1,000-kg silver horse are installed at the Aryasala Devi Temple, while the idol of Munnurrunankai Amman and the palanquin are placed at the Chenthitta Devi Temple until October 4.
Codified through songs
Writing in The Hindu, vocalist Prince Rama Varma said Swathi Thirunal, the king and composer of Travancore, codified the Navaratri celebrations by composing nine exquisite songs to be sung at the nine evenings.
Mr. Sasibooshan said the Navaratri festival had taken place at Mavelikara in 1755, 1788, 1789, 1791, and 1804, and once at Haripad. “It was during the invasion of Tipu Sultan that King Dharmaraja was camping in the northern part of Kerala. This necessitated the shifting of the venue, and the deities were carried all the way from Kanniyakumari to Mavelikara,” he said.
A break in the festival in Thiruvananthapuram occurred when Swathi Thirunal temporarily shifted the celebrations to Padmanabhapuram. “Practical compulsions forced him to revert the events to Thiruvananthapuram, and he made an apology to the deity for his inability to organise it at Padmanabhapuram. The last time the festival was held at Padmanabhapuram was in 1838,” Mr. Sasibhooshan said. The importance of the Padmanabhapuram Palace declined rapidly once it ceased to be the permanent venue of the Navaratri festival.
Request to Kamaraj
Mr. Perumal said that even after Kanniyakumari was added the State of Madras, the tradition continued after King Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma made a request to Madras Chief Minister K. Kamaraj. “Even today, temples in Kanniyakumari district follow the tantric worship, and pujas are performed by either Namboothiris or Tulu Brahmins known as Potris,” he said.
Published – September 26, 2025 06:30 am IST
