Rain dampens Atham mood

TRIPUNITHURA: Ignoring the heavy downpour, hundreds of people participated in the traditional Athachamayam procession on the land of the Vamanamoorthy here on Wednesday.Most of the participants took the cover of umbrellas while participating in the procession.The colourful tableaux, the main attraction of the procession, began their journey only after the intensity of the downpour subsided after around two hours. The students donned the attire of the traditional farmer and the typical Keralite in the tableaux. Miniature forms of Oppana, Thiruvaathira Kali and Kolkali were also arrayed in the procession.Though the continuous rain disturbed the smooth movement of the procession, the tableaux displayed in the procession depicted a true cross section of the contemporary Kerala.Citing the ever-increasing criminal tendency in the Malayali society, a float depicted the present social scenario of Kerala, including the torturing of minor girls, drug abuse, addiction to liquor and other social evils in the backdrop of Swami Vivekananda’s statue. A satirical float titled ERNA’KULAM’ depicted the worst situation of the roads in Kochi city which have virtually turned into ponds. Vanishing farm lands and the traditional occupations such as pottery were the subject of another notable float.  As usual, many floats on the immortal moments from epics and puranas, including the Jnanapazham, Syamanthakam, Vishnu and Lakshmi atop Garuda, Bali and Ravana, made the procession more attractive. A few tableaux depicted the tragedy in the Ervadi Mental Asylum, the tribal life in the forest and Adam and Eve. The sky was clear and sunny in the morning. The sky turned cloudy immediately after the inaugural function attended by three ministers and the municipal chairman. The rain began sharp at 10 am, the time scheduled for the formal beginning of the Atham procession. Municipal chairman R Venugopal welcomed the gathering. Excise Minister K Babu  presided over the function. The celebrations were then inaugurated by Cultural Affairs Minister A P Anilkumar. Food and Civil Supplies Minister T M Jacob offered felicitations after hoisting the Atham Flag.