Karumanassery

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Karumanassery is a small village in Kerala, India. It is about 5 kilometers from Vadakkencherry on National Highway 47, midway between Palakkad and Trisoor. Karumanassery is a Brahmin village, with less than 100 houses. The presiding deities are Krishnamoorthy and Swayambhu Ayyappan.

According to local folklore, a shepherd was sharpening his knife on a stone and saw blood ooze out of it. From then on the stone was worshipped as a form of Ayyappan. People in this village attribute all their wealth and prosperity to the Karumana Swayambhu.

The preparations for the village's annual Ratholsavam festival (December 29) starts with booking the elephants and the Melam team in August or September. The actual festival starts off with the Kodiettam (hoisting of the flag) on Dec 25th night. It is an unsaid rule that the people who were present in the village during the Kodiettam should not leave the village until the kodierakkam (lowering of the flag) on the afternoon of December 30, which signals the culmination of the festivities.