THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Thiruvananthapuram international airport will remain closed for five hours on Tuesday to facilitate the Alpasi Arattu procession of Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple.
All domestic and international services will remain suspended from 4pm to 9pm for the centuries-old ritual. A total of six flights, including four international ones, have been rescheduled.
The airport suspends its services twice a year — in March-April for Painkuni festival and in October-November for the Arattu procession, when Lord Vishnu is carried from the Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple on a palanquin to Shanghumugham beach, located just behind the airport, for a ritual bath.
The procession is allowed to pass through the runway since this has been its traditional route long before the airport was built in 1932.
Close to the runway, there is an Arattu Mandapam where Lord Vishnu is kept for rest for a brief period and again embarks for the holy dip at the beach.
The deity is accompanied by members of the Travancore royal family and staff of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple and escorted by elephants, police band and cops. The procession, which enters the airport premises around 5.30pm, returns after the holy dip at 8pm through same route.
The airport suspends services twice a year — in March-April for the Painkuni festival and in October-November for the Arattu procession
