The chariots of Sri Visalakshi Sameta Viswanatha Swami Temple moved along the streets of Kalpathy on Tuesday and Wednesday setting the stage for a mega confluence of chariots carrying the deities of all the four major temples of Kalpathy on Thursday.
The chariot convergence named Rathasangamam on Thursday evening will mark the culmination of the 10-day Kalpathy car festival.
Thousands of people reached Kalpathy in the past two days to witness the chariots rolling along the streets. They watched their favourite deities being carried in decorated wooden chariots.
Many more hundreds of devotees are expected to reach Kalpathy on Thursday to pull the chariots. Pulling the chariots of deities such as Shiva-Parvathy, Maha Ganapati, and Vishnu is considered propitious by devotees.
When the chariots of Sri Visalakshi Sameta Viswanatha Swami Temple were taken out on Tuesday and Wednesday, the chariot of Manthakkara Sri Maha Ganapati Temple, New Kalpathy, rolled along the street on Wednesday.
The deities of Sri Prasanna Maha Ganapti Temple, Chathapuram, and Sri Lakshmi Narayana Perumal Temple, Old Kalpathy, will mount their respective chariots on Thursday and start moving along the streets to bless their devotees.
All the chariots of the four temples (Sri Visalakshi Sameta Viswanatha Swami Temple, Manthakkara Sri Maha Ganapati Temple, Chathapuram Sri Prasanna Maha Ganapati Temple and Sri Lakshmi Narayana Perumal Temple) will converge at Therumutty in front of Viswanatha Swami Temple or Kundambalam in the evening.
All educational institutions and government offices in Palakkad taluk have been given a holiday on Thursday in view of the Kalpathy car festival.