OACHIRA TEMPLE
Unique Feature: No Idol
Dedicated To: 'Parabrahman'
Main Event: Panthranduvilakku, The Twelve-Day Festival Of Lights
Oachira
is unique place of worship with neither a structure to house an idol nor
an idol around which temples are usually built.
The presiding deity at this sanctum-sanctorum is the abstract principle
of the 'Parabrahmam' or the 'Divine Omnipresence' or 'Universal
Conciousness'.
The main events at the temple, 'Oachirakkali'
festival falls in mid-June, while the 'Panthranduvilakku' or the
twelve-day festival of lights gets underway in November/ December.
'Ochirakkali' is a
mock fight enacted between groups of men dressed as warriors in the
'padanilam' (fighting arena).
They perform a martial dance standing in knee-deep water, brandishing
swords and shields, and splashing water every direction.
