St. Mary's perunaal, Manarcad
Onam the harvest festive of kerala is being celebrated will large hue and cry round the state. In the district of Kottayam there is an added reason for celebration. Here at this point of year pilgrims from round the state visit Manarcad cathedral where the " St. Mary's Perunaal" is being commenced this perunaal signifies the birth of Mother Mary and it lasts for eight day from 1st September to 8th September. The main attraction of the perunaal is the procession the take place. This procession is the biggest procession that take place in whole of Asia. Apart from this there are many other attractions like the band that is present over here theses band that are present here makes the place so lovely and lively that one automatically comes to a festive mood. On the eighth day of the perunaal unveiling of St Mary's statue takes place this is the most auspicious moment of the perunaal. Right from the first day of the perunaal there are many shops present which sells different types of goods, toys and edibles. During the eight days of the perunaal there is lunch and dinner is provided in the cathedral . On the seventh day of perunaal firework is organized whose beauty cannot nearly be concealed in words, along with this the cathedral is illuminated with thousands of light all throughout the perunaal. On eighth the perunaal gets over but the veiling of the mother Mary's statue is done on 14th of September all through this time there is a huge rush in the cathedral Through this perunaal the cathedral earns lot of fortune which is spent for the welfare of poor and needy through out the globe.
