Kerala the ‘God’s own Country’ as we know is famous for numerous devotional feasts and festivals from various religions. Devotees participate in these festivities in huge numbers all across the state. Recently I have been to the famous Edappally St. George Church Perunnal in Cochin. Perunnal is the Malayalam term for feasts or festivals performed in churches. The St. George Forane Church in Edappally annually celebrate the commemoration of the patron St. George from late April to the beginning of May. One of the main attractions of the feasts is the solemn procession towards the end where devotees carry the statue of the idol St. George through the nearby streets. Devotees take part in the procession offering their prayers and seeking blessing from the patron St. George.
The St. George Church and its premises have been attractively decorated with illuminations and colourful flowers on the days of the feast. The whole atmosphere of the place would be changed with the presence of devotees coming from the nearby areas as well as from all across the state. Devotional songs would be played in the background giving away the atmosphere for praying.
One of the fascinating practices of the feasts is the auctioning of poultry which were presented to the church as offerings. I have seen the auction process commencing in full swing. This has been a practice which was followed since the very early days. A person who is in charge of the auction would say out the price which has been quoted for poultry. The person who comes up with the biggest price from the group of devotees standing in front would win the poultry.
As with the case of any other religious festival, prayers and offerings have been the main priority of the Edappally St. George Church Feast. Devotees attend the holy mass in the church and offer their prayers. They would also attend the Novenas and hymns of St. George in a devotional atmosphere, seeking blessing from the patron St. George. I have also participated in the procession which in turn is the most attractive part of the festival. When we think about the festivals in Churches, the procession usually begins towards the last day of the feasts soon after the main holy mass.
The procession began from the small church after the prayers. Kerala’s traditional drums called Chenda were in full flow accompanying the prayerful walk along the streets. Devotees carry colourful umbrellas which have a glittering presence along the edges. The band set or orchestras have also accompanied the procession making it the festival of the culmination of sound and music. The statue of St. George would be carried along by the devotees throughout the entire path.
There is a banyan tree and a well located close to the small church. We could see a lot of stalls selling ornamentals, food items, toys etc close to the church premises. There were shops set up in the space available in the ground and devotees after their prayers make use of these shops to buy some gifts for their loved ones. The holy well situated close to the church has got ample importance with the devotees. People tend to believe that the water from the well is good for getting a cure for various diseases. It’s also been believed that the holy water from the well and the soil around the well would help the people against the attack of harmful insects and predators.
Edappally St. George Church’s festive atmosphere and the procession through the nearby streets all present us with a day to remember. After the procession, I have come to a place nearby the church. Apparently, this is where the devotees cook the poultry which was bought through the auction. This religious practice was followed to get blessings from St. George. We have seen many people cooking country chicken under a large shed which is put in place to perform this custom. As I was returning from the procession, there I saw people in the nearby houses making chicken recipes in the open yard in front of their houses.
Several people who were making the chicken recipes had called me to have a taste. All of them were in different stages of preparing their recipe. Some of them have only started to clean the chicken, but others were in the final stages of cooking. One of my friends George and his elder brother was preparing the chicken curry. As I was going through the preparation, a family from Thrissur who were frequent visitors to this famous festival called me to join them for having the food. Chicken curry has been prepared and the whole family including the children would have the dish seeking blessings from St. George. They served me the chicken recipe on a plate and the taste was so good. Although the quantity was more than what I had expected, I felt the recipe would have been a perfect match to be had with Kallappam which is a popular dish in the Kottayam region.
When I came back, George’s brother has kept the chicken recipe for cooking. Firewood is being used and marinated chicken pieces with sliced onion and masala were placed on large Uruli for preparation. Fresh banana leaves were used as a lid and I have heard a few announcements in between instructing the people to keep the church premises clean. Reminding the devotees to use the facilities which were in place to dispose of the waste. Also, there were instructions to refrain from alcohol usage as it would disrupt the devotional atmosphere. We have been told that more people would arrive late in the evening towards 6.30 pm which in turn is considered to be the peak time. This has made us come early at 3.30 pm to avoid the rush.
As the chicken recipe was ready, we had it with bread. The whole of George’s family including the children and the elder ones enjoyed the delicious food. I have also had chicken curry with bread and the taste was really awesome. The chicken pieces were cooked well and it had a thick gravy. Since it is difficult to prepare other recipes like Appam, people usually buy some of the food items like bread to go with this chicken recipe. But even then, we have seen some people preparing rice to have it with their chicken recipes.
We have been planning to attend the Edappally St. George Church Feast for a long time. I met George on my morning walk about 3-4 months back and since then we have been making plans to attend this festival. Although I was in Kolkotta for the past few days, George called me and informed me about the festival. Finally, we were able to shoot the famous Edappally St. George Church Feast and it was an amazing experience.
