The temporary bridge constructed across the Bharathapuzha to reach the Mahamagham ritual venue is yet to open.
The Mahamagham festival being held on the banks of the Bharathapuzha at Tirunavaya is yet to draw the large crowds anticipated by the organisers. However, event managers are hopeful that devotees from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu will begin arriving in significant numbers from January 22. The festival began on Monday and will run through February 3.
Business remained largely routine for traders in Tirunavaya on the second day of the festival on Tuesday, though they said they were looking forward to busier days ahead. Chants of Vedic hymns echoed through loudspeakers throughout the day as devotees spent time within the premises of the Navamukunda Temple.
Many visitors chose to take a holy dip at the temple’s bathing ghat. However, restrictions and barricades were in place as the Bharathapuzha flowing alongside the temple was deemed unsafe even during the summer months.
A group of people taking a ferry to reach the sandbank where arati and other ritual arrangements are being made at Tirunavaya as part of the Mahamagham festival
Aratis and other more elaborate rituals will be performed in the evenings from January 22. A temporary bamboo bridge built across the river, linking the expansive sandbank where swamis will conduct rituals, remained closed on Tuesday. Organisers said the bridge would be opened to the public from Thursday. Priests and organisers reached the sandbank by boat on Tuesday to assess the preparations.
As many as 50 bio-toilets are being set up at the venue. “We will ensure that the faecal waste is removed using a tanker and that it never reaches the river,” said one of the organisers.
According to Sreelakshmi K., secretary of the Tirunavaya panchayat, strict instructions have been issued to the organisers to adhere to green protocols. She said the organisers would collect the solid waste and hand it over to the panchayat’s Harithakarma Sena. The panchayat office is located a few yards from the temple.
In the initial days of the festival, devotees from Malappuram and neighbouring districts arrived in Tirunavaya. Many of them were regular temple pilgrims who also visit other popular shrines such as Guruvayur and Kadampuzha.
The entrance to the temporary bamboo bridge connecting the arati venue in the Bharathapuzha with the mainland at Tirunavaya.
“I came from Kozhikode as a pilgrim tourist. I visited other temples as well,” said Sukumaran P., an elderly man in his seventies, as he relaxed in the cool breeze beneath the ficus tree near the temple.
For regular tourists visiting the Mamangam monuments maintained by the State Archaeology department, it was an ordinary day. Despite the Mahamagham festival, many students toured sites such as the Changampalli Kalari, Manikkinar, and Marunnara. The Pazhukkamandapam adjacent to the temple saw only a handful of visitors.
Published – January 20, 2026 08:51 pm IST
