Onattukara, the once granary of Central Travancore, has a rich tradition and unique culture revolving around its agrarian economy. An enviable harmony exists between the people of this region irrespective of cast, creed or social status, thanks to the amity and unity that can be brought in by the community events and cultural lineage.
We, the people of Chettikulangara believe we organise one among the largest and most diverse annual festivals in the world. Our Kettkazhchas are accomplishment of implausible dreams of the humanity – unbelievably enormous artistic creations carved by the hard physical exertion and commitment of a whole community.
It is the passion, devotion, and willingness to toil hard for a common cause that instills the community feeling in us, and to rejoice with our traditional food, songs, dance and music.
Is there any such place in the world where festivities last for almost half part of the year? Our varied and ethnically rich customs and festivities related to our Chettikulangara temple Goddess start by Vrichikam (November-December) and lasts upto Meenam-Medam (April - May), the time of harvest and rejuvenation. In between, we have similar small, medium and big festivals with slight variations in our suburbs, like at Valiyakulagara, Puthiyakavu, Koyippalli Karazhma, Evoor, Chamakkavu, Vettiyar, Mullikulangara, Malanada etc., all helping us to feel proud of that rich cultural inheritance from our unknown forefathers.
We fear our next or their next generation might lose or ignore to celebrate the richness and finer aspects of our festivities; the cultural inheritance what we have at present, and above all, the passion involved in our celebrations. Already we have some what lost the originality of our song and dance – Kuthiyottam; we lost some of the unique words and terminology we use during the making of Kettukazhchas, and so on…. The time has come to preserve (either digitally, in print, or in other medii as a guidance for next generation) what we have and its history.
More than that, we feel it is our duty to invite others to come, see and enjoy these rare festivals, and revive the rich cultural tradition of Onattukara. (Mind you, revered guests, kindly make sure not to violate the divinity associated with our customs and traditions). We feel the world has not yet known deservingly and enough on our festivities.
With this mission, we at Erezha North No.41 Haindava Karayogam - the creators of one among the largest of the 13 Kettukazhchas, decided to disseminate information about our bhagavathy, customs and to preserve the pulse of our festivities for our next generations by incorporating the website www.chettikulangara.org.