Panchayath/ Municipality/ Kattappana Block panchayat Corporation

LOCATION District Idukki

Nearest Town/ Vandanmedu Junction – 800 m Landmark/ Junction

Nearest Bus statio Amayar Bus Stop – 2 Km

Nearest Railway Kottayam Railway Station - 125 Km statio ACCESSIBILITY

Nearest Airport Cochin International Airport - 130 Km

Sree Mahaganapathy Temple Vandamedu Idukki 685551 CONTACT Phone: +91-4868 -288 061

DATES FREQUENCY DURATION

TIME February – March Annual 4 Days ABOUT THE FESTIVAL (Legend/History/Myth)

Inside the Vandanmedu Ganapathy Temple , sila idol of Lord Ganapaty is of sitting pose with two arms, the right hand is folded and left hand having modakam and with the pose of taking it with His own trunk. All other idols are made of sila. Lord Ayyappa in sitting pose, Sree Vana Durga of mirror type and Nagas in sitting pose with raised hood and the idol of Rakshas. Earlier Vandanmedu had thick forests with tribal settlements. The legend says that once two hunters, belonging to the tribal class, when passing through the place while hunting saw an idol on a small rock protected by a hooded serpent. On return, they saw the same idol protected by serpent and reported the matter to the Ooru Mooppan, the tribal leader. On his order, they drove away the serpents with great difficulty and brought the idol to the Mooppan. Within a short while, the residence of Mooppan was surrounded by elephants and snakes. The Mooppan and his consort got frightened and ordered the hunters to take back the idol to its original position. Once the idol was restored to its original position, the elephants and serpents suddenly disappeared. Till early 1990 an old descendent of the Mooppan visited the place on Trikkartika day and lighted a lamp and offered vazhipads, which substantiates the origin of the temple.The structures of the Vandanmedu Ganapathy Temple include sreekovil with mukha-mandapam, namaskara mandapam, chuttambalam, Nadapandal with valiya balikkal, sub-shrines, dhwajam, pradakshina-vazhi, anakottil, gopuram and alankara-gopuram. The chuttambalam built in 2000 has doors on all sides.

Local Approximately 10000 RELEVANCE- NO. OF PEOPLE (Local / National / International) PARTICIPATED EVENTS/PROGRAMS DESCRIPTION (How festival is celebrated)

Kudamattam Ceremony, the elephants parade with percussion music, is the major attraction of the festival. The elephants are decorated with gold plated Caparisons (Nettipattam), Bells (Mani), and Necklaces. People mounted on the elephants hold Tinselled Silk Parasols (Muttukuda) up high, swaying White Tufts (Venchamaram) and Peacock Elephants Parade Feather Fans (Alavattam) to the rhythm of the Panchari Percussion Music Melam.Panchari Melam or Panchari, a percussion Melam ensemble, one of the major forms of Chenda Melam (Ethnic ensemble), the best-known and most popular (Temple Percussion) genre, performed during temple festivals in Kerala. Four instruments are used in Panchari Melam - Chenda, Ilathalam (smaller version of cymbals), and .