Place: Ettumanoor Mahadeva Temple, Kottayam

One of the elegant sights associated with the temple festivals of Kerala is the ‘Ezhara Ponnana’ procession held during the annual festival at Ettumanoor Sree Mahadeva Temple in Kottayam. ‘Ezhara’ means seven-and-half and ‘Ponnana’ means golden elephant. Each of the seven elephants is two feet high and the eighth one is of one foot only. Hence they are together called seven-and-half elephants.

Celebrated in the Malayalam month of Kumbham (February – March), it is on the night of the eighth-day devotees can witness the procession of these golden elephants. The arattu ceremony is held on the tenth day on Thiruvathira asterism.Caparisoned elephants and traditional temple orchestra are also part of the procession.

These elephants were offered to the deity by the then ruler of Travancore, Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma. The Ezhara Ponnana procession is a memorable spectacle to behold on the eighth and tenth day of the festival at Ettumanoor.

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