By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Karkkidaka vavubali is Aadi Amavasai in Tamil Nadu. For a couple from Thenkashi in Tamil Nadu now living in Peroorkada, the vavubali experience in Shanghumugham was an eye opener. Rakesh and Swathy with their two kids had recently shifted to Kerala’s capital city for a job. The bali offering is not quite popular in their native place. “We were among the very few who did the ritual back in our place. We have poojas in temple. But rituals of such massive scale are rare. I was surprised by the number of people who turned up here. I did not really take my colleagues seriously when they told me it would be really busy, though I had heard that vavubali is observed on a large scale here,” said Rakesh, who works with a hotel group. VIEW GALLERY | Malayalis honour their dead on Karkidaka Vavubali “Given that so many people turned up even when there were clear warnings about the restrictions in place, it is evident that the day is close to the people’s heart here,” said Swathy, a homemaker. “Though, the security arrangements were to the point, I was a bit worried about going down there. The waiting was a bit too long and we had to stand in the sun for some time. But this was a new experience and a valuable one,” she said.

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