Panangattiri Koothanda Vela is held at the makeshift Sri Iravan Temple in Panangattiri in Palakkad District of
Kerala. The annual festival is held in Malayalam month Makaram. Hundreds of
devotees participate in this annual ritual.
In the festival, an effigy of Iravan, son of Arjuna and
Ulupi, is made with hay and bamboo. The head of the effigy is made using and
the face is painted green.
The festival is observed in commemoration of the sacrifice
of Iravan before the start of the Kurukshetra war in the Mahabharata. In the
festival the head of the effigy is broken, its body burnt with traditional
festivities, and fireworks.
Caparisoned elephants, melam and other traditional art forms
are part of the festivities.