830pm and the utsava mandapa doors are not yet open. Tharakkara neram thaan, one lady says, it’s the time when they open. Puja inside the moolasthanam is as much to the lamps as it is to the deity, who is shrouded in dhoopam smoke but decorated with row upon row of simple flower maalas, floor to ceiling almost. The utsavam mandapam, when it does open next, has what is a Durga Alankaram.
The priest’s plate brought around for the devotees to touch with hands before puja is a bowl of red kunkuma plus…. damanam again, tossed on her while the priests chant their mantras. How is this merely a coincidence of season and nothing more? There seems to be quite an excess of damanam around today.