Flight Services At Thiruvananthapuram Airport To Be Suspended For 5 Hours On Oct 23. This Is Why

The "Arattu" procession, a ritual, is followed as a decade-old practice involving Travancore Royals. 

The temple procession takes the runway route to reach Shangumugham beach for the holy bath of the idols.

Source : PTI

Flight services from Thiruvananthapuram International Airport will be suspended temporarily for five hours on October 23 in order to facilitate "Arattu" procession of Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple which is to pass through the runway, Thiruvananthapuram International Airport Ltd (TIAL) on Tuesday said. The "Arattu" procession, a ritual, is followed as a decade-old practice involving Travancore Royals. 

According to ANI, "Flight services at Thiruvananthapuram Airport will be temporarily suspended on October 23, 2023 from 4 pm to 9 pm to facilitate the Alpassi Arattu Procession by Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple."

Kerala | Flight services at Thiruvananthapuram Airport will be temporarily suspended on October 23, 2023 from 4 pm to 9 pm to facilitate the Alpassi Arattu Procession by Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple. pic.twitter.com/RoDHGpXVE0

— ANI (@ANI) October 17, 2023

In a statement on Tuesday, TIAL said, "Flight services at Thiruvananthapuram Airport will be temporarily suspended on October 23, 2023 from 1600 (4 PM) to 2100 (9 PM) hours to facilitate Alpassi Arattu Procession by Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple."

It stated that the individual airlines have updated flight schedules available. For many years, the airport has had to pause operations and reschedule flights twice a year in order to make room for the shrine's bi-annual, centuries-old ceremonial procession to pass over the runway.

The temple procession takes the runway route to reach Shangumugham beach for the holy bath of the idols. The ritual which was started centuries ago continued even after the establishment of the airport in 1932, as reported by PTI. 

According to historians, the then-Travancore King Sree Chithira Thirunal had made it clear when the airport was built at that location that it would be accessible to the general public for 363 days of the year and for two days for Lord Padmanabha, the titular deity of the royal dynasty, said a report on PTI.