the deity. A garland will be offered to the deity which does have not less than 101 lotus flowers. Annual temple festival The temple holds its chief annual festival for ten days each year in the month of Medam (April/May). The first day of the festival is calculated by the appearance of the uthram asterism and signified by hoisting a ceremonial flag (the start day falls one day after the famous Thrissur Pooram festival in nearby Thrissur) Each day of the festival, a seeveli (procession of caparisoned temple elephants) is held twice, once in the morning and once at night, to the accompaniment of panchari melam (sacred music). Seventeen elephants take part. Two features of the seeveli are unique to the Koodalmanikyam Temple: first that two baby elephants are included in the procession, one standing on each side of the elephant carrying the deity. Second, while the headdresses ('netti pattam' in Malayalam) of seven elephants are made of pure gold, the rest are made of pure silver. The last two days of the festival feature panchavadyam (sacred music from an orchestra of five instruments), and the festival ends at the thiruvonam asterism. Temple ponds There are four ponds that are located in and around the temple. The largest of the four are "Kuttan Kulam", located outside the compound on the eastern side, and "Kulipini Theertham", located inside the compound. Kulipini Theertham is believed to have been sanctified by the sage (maharishi) Kulipini, who held a great ritual sacrifice, a yajna, at the spot. Water from this source is used for rituals and ceremonies within the temple. Priests are allowed to take part in the ceremonies after cleansing themselves at the Kuttan Kulam outside the temple and then have to take a dip in Kulipini Theertham before entering sanctum sanctorum. The pond outside the compound located at the western side is called "Padinjare Kulam" and the pond outside the compound located at the southern side is called "Thekke Kulam". These three water bodies constitute a significant area as much as the size of the temple itself. Except Kulipini Theertham the other three water bodies are open to the public. See also Temples of Kerala References External links Temple website 9th-century Hindu temples Hindu temples in Thrissur district Irinjalakuda