St. Andrew's Forane Church at Arthunkal

ARTHUNKAL FEAST

St. Andrew's Forane Church at Arthunkal, one of the sacred churches in Kerala, attracts lacks of devotees both Christians and non-Christians every year from all parts of the State. The feast of St. Sebastian is celebrated on a grand scale for eleven days in a year. Owning to the manageable crowding of pilgrims and the resultant confusion on January 20 the final day of the feast, the church authorities have instituted another minor feast on the 8th day after the principal feast. This is known as Ettamperunnal. Of late this feast also has attained as much importance as the principal feast.

Among the devotees who flock to Arthunkal church for worship a greater part consists of those who have recovered from serious illness and the other who have escaped grave accidents. The maimed, the crippled and the mentally derange, also visit the church. Those who have received special favors from the saint show their gratitude by crawling on their knees from the local beach of the church, known as Urulunercha, and make offering of Gold and Silver replicas of human limbs, bows and arrows etc.

On the 18th day of January at the day dawns and the gates of Arthunkal church are opened, thousands of pilgrims who return from the Sastha temple of Sabarimala throng to this sacred place, take bath from the tank attached to the church and pay their homage to the Saint.