Kottayam: The historic ‘Pettah Thullal’ marking the victory of Lord Ayyappa over demon Mahishi was performed by the Ambalappuzha and Alangattu teams at Erumely on Wednesday.
The 500-member Ambalappuzha team, led by Chandrasekharan Nair for the 25th consecutive year, started from Erumely Petta Sastha temple at 12.30 p.m. after witnessing ‘Krishna-parunthu’ in the sky above the temple.
Accompanied by caparisoned elephants and teams playing percussion instruments, the procession reached the east fort of the temple where Travancore Devaswom Board president Prayar Gopalakrishnan, member Ajay Tharayil and others gave a traditional reception.
The thullal by the Alangattu team led by Thankappan Nair and Vijaykumar began from the temple at 2.30 p.m. after witnessing a ‘star’ in the sky.
The team members, with sandalwood paste on the forehead, danced to tune of the percussion instruments till they reached the Lord Sastha temple at 4 p.m. The thullal by the two teams concluded at Valiyambalam after which they left for the Sabarimala temple.
