Ochira Kali Festival of Kerala

Name of Festival : Ochira Kali Festival

Major Territory of Celebration
Ochira Kali Festival is celebrated in kerala state of India

Time of celebration (Months)
Thrissur Ochira Kali Festival is celebrated in mid of June and it lasts for two days.

About Festival
Ochira Kali festival is celebrated at Ochchira, a village near Kayamkulam in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala .Large number of people took part in Keralas Ochira Kali festival, a mock fight to commemorate a battle between two rulers.

Reason of Festival
This festival is celebrated in memory of a battle between the Rajas of Quilon (Kollam) and Kayamkulam.Parabrahma temple is also here. The Ochira Parabrahma temple, is dedicated to universal consciousness. The uniqueness of the temple is that there are no idols.This festival is organized during the monsoon season.

All the People are dressed in colourful attire, take part in the festival. The participants fight each other in a mock battle standing in knee-deep water, brandishing mock swords and shields while splashing water and mud.The first day of the fetival, the fight is conducted from 8 am to 11 a.m. and on the second from 12 pm to 3 pm. Only Nair community take part in this.

The appearance of a kite hovering in the air summons the players to arms.Each players is dress up colour fully and have native attire and armed with a sword .Each participants perform a number of movements forwards and backwards. These resemble the movements of assault and retreat in regular warfare.Kite appears again and this is the signal for the tournament to stop. Repeat the same process in second day