Kalpathy delegation visits Tamil Nadu temples ahead of chariot fest

A delegation from Kalpathy, Palakkad, being received by the officials of the Mayuranathaswamy Temple at Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu, on Sunday. Representatives of four Kalpathy temples visited Mayuranathaswamy Temple at Mayiladuthurai in Tamil Nadu on Sunday to honour their historical links ahead of the Kalpathy chariot festival to be held from November 7 to 17. The delegation offered prayers and presented festival invitations to the temple. It also visited temples at Vaitheeswaran Koil, Thiruvarur, Thiruvidaimarudur and Kumbakonam, and met Swami Vimuktananda, head of the Sri Ramakrishna Math in Thanjavur.The Mayiladuthurai temple’s chariot festival is believed to have inspired the Kalpathy car festival. Tamil Brahmins who settled in Palakkad in the 13th century are believed to have come from Mayiladuthurai, Kumbakonam and Thanjavur, bringing their Vedic scholarship and temple traditions. “The festival would be incomplete without remembering our ancestors. We visited these temples to honour our forebears and seek their blessings,” said K.S. Krishna, convener of the Kalpathy festival committee.The Kalpathy car festival follows a tradition similar to the chariot festival held during the last 10 days of the Tamil month of Aippasi in Mayiladuthurai. The festival has been celebrated in Kalpathy for centuries.The four participating temples are Sri Visalakshi Sametha Sri Viswanathaswamy Temple at Kalpathy, Mandakkara Sri Mahaganapathy Temple at New Kalpathy, Sri Lakshminarayana Perumal Temple at Old Kalpathy and Sri Prasanna Mahaganapathy Temple at Chathapuram.The delegation, led by temple committee office-bearers C.V. Murali Ramanathan, K.S. Krishna and A.V. Vasudevan, included representatives and residents of the four Kalpathy agraharams. It invited priests, religious leaders and devotees in Tamil Nadu to attend the temple car festival. Published - October 25, 2026 08:04 pm IST