The temporary bridge built across the Bharathapuzha to reach the Mahamagham ritual site is yet to be opened. | Photo credit: Sakeer Hussain
The Mahamagham festival, which is being held on the banks of Bharathapuzha in Tirunavaya, is yet to attract the big crowds expected by the organizers. However, event managers hope that devotees from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu will start arriving in large numbers from January 22. The festival started on Monday and will continue until February 3.
Business remained largely routine for traders in Tirunavaya on the second day of the festival on Tuesday, though they said they were looking forward to busier days ahead. Chanting of Vedic hymns rang out from loudspeakers throughout the day as devotees spent time in the Navamukunda temple premises.
Many visitors choose to take a sacred dip in the temple’s bathing ghat. However, restrictions and barricades were in place as the Bharathapuzha flowing alongside the temple was considered dangerous even during the summer months.
A group of people taking a ferry to the sandbar where arati are held in tirunavaya as part of the mahamagham festival
other ritual measures
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Sorry, but this photo is no longer available for purchase. Photo credit: Sakeer Hussain
Aratis and other more elaborate rituals will be performed in the evenings from January 22. A temporary bamboo bridge built across the river that connects the vast sandy beach where the swamis will perform rituals remained closed on Tuesday. Organizers said the bridge will be open to the public from Thursday. Priests and organizers arrived at the sandbar by boat on Tuesday to take stock of the preparations.
Up to 50 biotoilets are set up at the venue. “We will ensure that fecal waste is taken away by tanker and that it never enters the river,” said one of the organizers.
According to Sreelakshmi K., secretary of Tirunavaya panchayat, strict instructions have been issued to the organizers to follow green protocols. She said the organizers would collect the solid waste and hand it over to the Harithakarma Sena panchayat. The panchayat office is located a few meters away from the temple.
In the early days of the festival, devotees from Malappuram and neighboring areas arrived at Tirunavaya. Many of them were regular temple pilgrims who also visit other popular shrines like Guruvayur and Kadampuzha.
Entrance to the temporary bamboo bridge connecting the arati venue at Bharathapuzha with the mainland at Tirunavaya. | Photo credit: Sakeer Hussain
“I have come from Kozhikode as a pilgrim tourist. I have visited other temples as well,” said Sukumaran P., an elderly man in his seventies, as he relaxed in the cool breeze under a ficus tree near the temple.
It was an ordinary day for ordinary tourists visiting the Mamangam monuments managed by the State Archaeological Department. Despite the Mahamagham festival, many students visited places like Changampalli Kalari, Manikkinar and Marunnara. Pazhukkamandapam adjacent to the temple saw only a handful of visitors.
Published – 20 Jan 2026 20:51 IST
