Yesterday evening as I was getting bored staying home the whole day, I decided to go to Sivarathri Manappuram on the banks of Aluva Puzha(Periyar) where a great fair in connection with Maha Sivarathri was going on. Since my childhood days, as it has been ever since my parent’s and grand parent’s also, Sivarathri time used to be looked upon as a great event - the elements of spirituality, recreation, and merchandise beautifully woven together. One may, at times, find it difficult to draw a clear demarcating line between any of these elements.
Every year, around half a million people assemble there on Maha Sivarathri night, pay libations to their ancestors, make a round of the trade fare going on there, buy something and leave. The giant wheel at Manappuram used to shoot up the adrenaline level of people like anything. I am not sure if the younger generation feels the same now a days because the excitement is far greater in the amusement parks near and around. However, such options weren’t even heard of those days and it is certain that people used to enjoy the wallet suiting merchandise here any how.
There must be something that brings people year after year to a place that would lie almost deserted during the rest of the year. Of course, people come here to perform the last rites of their dear and near. But this much crowd on a single day is something few other places in Kerala can boast of. It is a great wonder that in spite of the well oiled machinery and propaganda of a cadre based political party like the CPM, not more than a few ten thousands of people come for a district meeting at the same place. I was witness to the recently concluded district public meeting of that party and I was amazed to find that less than a quarter area of Manappuram was sufficient to contain the crowd!
By the time I reached Manappuram yesterday, the Sivarathri rush has subsided, but it was brisk business at the stalls there. I decided not to go farther than the book stalls and propaganda stalls erected by various spiritual organizations. Sivarathri celebrations come only once in a year; so why shouldn’t you splurge a little on those days?
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