Mannarasala Ayilyam

A secluded temple in a forest glade with over 30,000 images of snakes adorning the paths and among the trees. This is the unique Mannarasala Sree Nagaraja Temple in Alappuzha District. The temple, dedicated to Serpent Gods, is also unique in that a Brahmin woman is the priestess of this temple. The major festival here is the Ayilyam Festival that falls on the Ayilyam asterism in the Malayalam month of Thulam, which roughly corresponds to the months of October / November.

One of the major highlights of the festival is the procession in which all the serpent idols in the Temple and the sacred grove are taken to the Illam (the Brahmin ancestral home) that manages the Temple. The priestess will carry the idol of Nagaraja, which is the presiding deity of the temple. Special prayers and offerings are performed at the Illam.