Preparations are on for the Jubilee Perunnal, jointly celebrated by the three parishes of Palai. The Perunnal will start on Dec 1 with a procession from Lalam St Mary's church. As always, the main perunnal days are Dec 7th and 8th. The pandal was being erected in front of the Jubilee shrine last Saturday when I was visiting Palai. A football tournament has also started in the Municipal Stadium in connection with the festival. Also on the anvil are a professional drama troupe competition and a tableau display. There will also be a two wheeler fancy dress competition. Not much change has happened to the programme calendar all through these years. The only new event I could notice in the schedule was a cinematic dance.
It's a long time since I last participated in the feast. Last year I was in Palai only after the festival was over. I could see the entire Main Road from Government Hospital Junction to Maharani Theatre junction decorated with silvery laces. Friends say the vigour has not in anyway come down what with the rubber prices ruling high.
I have fond memories of the festival from childhood days. Everyday during these days we used to watch the status of the pandal and the decorations being attached as we walked our way to school. On the main festival days, the highlight was the procession covering the entire town. Traffic used to be diverted through the Kottavazhy, which was near to our house. My little sister and I had the simple pleasure of counting all the vehicles that went by this alternate route.
The students of the St Thomas School participated in a candle-light procession on 7th evening, an event that has been discontinued now for some unknown reason. Since our father was a teacher in the school, he used to be part of the procession. The rest of us watched the procession from a convenient location in front of the Town Hall. Even though the main festival is on the 8th, for us 7th night was the real feast day. After father came back from the candle light procession, we had a walk around the town to see the illumination. The illumination was one of the highlights of the perunnal. Once when there was a severe power cut, the entire town was illuminated with oil wick lamps made out of marotti shells. We called it a day by purchasing some uzhunnada and eethappazham from the roadside vendor. We were never allotted much pocket money for buying something; all the purchases happened from the "central budget".
On the 8th we had another procession by the lasses of St Mary's school and many lads from St Vincent made it a point not to miss this event. I never recollect any spiritual event being conducted except for the Mass and sermons by the bishops. Contrast it with the Novena perunnal Lalam pally where we don't have anything that is related to entertainment. Primarily the Jubilee perunnal for the people of Palai is an occasion to make merry. There is talk of the Jubilee Chapel being converted to an air conditioned chapel for Perpetual Adoration. Having seen people from all walks of life pray in front of the chapel by the side of the road, one cannot but wonder how times have changed!
I don't know how the people of Palai have responded to Major Archbishop Vithayathil's edict banning processions and fiestas on wayside Chapels. If it were to be implemented, it would wipe out a defining feature of Palai. However I can imagine the plight of people travelling to distant places. One incident I can recall is that when an accident had happened in Idukki the police had a tough time controlling crowds to facilitate the transport of the injured to the Kottayam Medical College.
In those days, with limited opportunities for entertainment, the Jubilee feast was an occasion for the people to break out of routine activities. In these days, with various avenues of entertainment, does the Jubilee perunnal still mean the same to all?
Tailpiece: The festival season in Palai starts with the perunnal at Lalam Puthen pally, which just concluded last Sunday. With the new church building about to come up soon, Puthen pally will truly become a new church from next year.
29 November 2005
24 November 2005
The Pala-Meenachil Blog
Hello everyone.
It is right time that Meenachil and the Palai country gets its rightful place in the blogosphere. I am just making a small attempt to start it. I would be the most happy person if this initiative catches on and there are more blogs which cover the culture and life of this beautiful place in God's own country.
Why blog on Pala and Meenachil?
Just as any other local culture, Palai and its nearby areas have a rich tradition and culture. As people migrate to other places and integrate into the national and international mainstream, I believe there is some space reserved for nostalgic memories in their hearts.
Based on my experience in the WWW, I am still doubtful whether I am ahead of times. I had created Wikipedia entries for Palai and Meenachil and the way these entries have been maltreated definitely makes me wonder if this blog will also meet with similar fate.
In the long run, I intend to enter this blog in the Kerala Blog Roll. Being able to travel to Palai every weekend is one of the blessings I count on in my life. I want to share my insights to other people of Meenachil origin and in that process be enriched by their contributions.
Whether right or not, much of the available literature on the Palai culture is through commercial cinema and pulp fiction. In my many decades of existence in this place, I am yet to meet these larger than life, stereotyped characters. However I have heard of many such folklore. I want to check back with others on what people of Palai stand for. We are yet to see a novelist of the class of an MT Vasudevan Nair. I am not forgetting Zacharia, however. But I am not sure whether that is all to it.
We hear a lot about development these days. I would like to see other natives put forth a development agenda for Pala and its people. What is sustainable development in the context of Palai? What should be the orientation of people? What are the habits we must disown? What is to be learnt from the collective experience of past generations?
I look forward to hearing your views.
It is right time that Meenachil and the Palai country gets its rightful place in the blogosphere. I am just making a small attempt to start it. I would be the most happy person if this initiative catches on and there are more blogs which cover the culture and life of this beautiful place in God's own country.
Why blog on Pala and Meenachil?
Just as any other local culture, Palai and its nearby areas have a rich tradition and culture. As people migrate to other places and integrate into the national and international mainstream, I believe there is some space reserved for nostalgic memories in their hearts.
Based on my experience in the WWW, I am still doubtful whether I am ahead of times. I had created Wikipedia entries for Palai and Meenachil and the way these entries have been maltreated definitely makes me wonder if this blog will also meet with similar fate.
In the long run, I intend to enter this blog in the Kerala Blog Roll. Being able to travel to Palai every weekend is one of the blessings I count on in my life. I want to share my insights to other people of Meenachil origin and in that process be enriched by their contributions.
Whether right or not, much of the available literature on the Palai culture is through commercial cinema and pulp fiction. In my many decades of existence in this place, I am yet to meet these larger than life, stereotyped characters. However I have heard of many such folklore. I want to check back with others on what people of Palai stand for. We are yet to see a novelist of the class of an MT Vasudevan Nair. I am not forgetting Zacharia, however. But I am not sure whether that is all to it.
We hear a lot about development these days. I would like to see other natives put forth a development agenda for Pala and its people. What is sustainable development in the context of Palai? What should be the orientation of people? What are the habits we must disown? What is to be learnt from the collective experience of past generations?
I look forward to hearing your views.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)