Ochira Kali is a unique festival held in the Ochira Parabrahma Temple which shows a mock fight between two groups, to the sound of drums, in a waterlogged field called padanilam. This festival is held as a commemoration of the historic war, fought between the former kingdoms of Kayamkulam and Ambalapuzha. Boys and men break into two groups in this festival and participate in a mock battle with muddy water splashing swords at each other.
History of oachira
There's a lot of speculation on why this location is called Oachira. Some people believe the name of the place came from the word Omkarachira and others say the name comes from the name Oymanchira. There are also firm convictions that the name deriving from Uvachanchira as Uvachan means Lord Siva by belief. Many of those conclusions are myth-based.
Perhaps the real reason for getting to Oachira's name is different. To this end, we can consider the observations made by the two British officials, Ward and Conner, who conducted a survey during the early 19th century in the former Travancore. It was stated in their survey report that there was a large reservoir in the center of the broad ground called Padanilam. This reservoir (tank / pond / chira) was in the Padanilam centre. In olden days, the soldiers used this chira to bathe and provide water to the horses used in the war exercises. In ancient days this chira may have been known as Onattuchira, as the place belonged to the Kayamkulam Raja, also called the Odanattu Raja, or simply Onattu Rajah. Kayamkulam Raja's headquarters was then in Krishnapuram, very close to the Padanilam. So it is assumed that the word Onattuchira was eventually adopted as the name of the town, and that word was corrupted into Oachira as time went by further. This is quite a reasonable theory given that there are so many examples of the transformation of place names in known history.
Getting there
Nearest railway station: Ochira, at walking distance Nearest airport: Trivandrum International Airport, about 105 km
History of oachira
There's a lot of speculation on why this location is called Oachira. Some people believe the name of the place came from the word Omkarachira and others say the name comes from the name Oymanchira. There are also firm convictions that the name deriving from Uvachanchira as Uvachan means Lord Siva by belief. Many of those conclusions are myth-based.
Perhaps the real reason for getting to Oachira's name is different. To this end, we can consider the observations made by the two British officials, Ward and Conner, who conducted a survey during the early 19th century in the former Travancore. It was stated in their survey report that there was a large reservoir in the center of the broad ground called Padanilam. This reservoir (tank / pond / chira) was in the Padanilam centre. In olden days, the soldiers used this chira to bathe and provide water to the horses used in the war exercises. In ancient days this chira may have been known as Onattuchira, as the place belonged to the Kayamkulam Raja, also called the Odanattu Raja, or simply Onattu Rajah. Kayamkulam Raja's headquarters was then in Krishnapuram, very close to the Padanilam. So it is assumed that the word Onattuchira was eventually adopted as the name of the town, and that word was corrupted into Oachira as time went by further. This is quite a reasonable theory given that there are so many examples of the transformation of place names in known history.
Getting there
Nearest railway station: Ochira, at walking distance Nearest airport: Trivandrum International Airport, about 105 km