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The Painkuni festival, which ends with a royal procession to the Shanghumugham beach, is celebrated in which state?
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Answer: Option B — Kerala
Detailed Solution
The Painkuni festival (Painkuni Utsavam) is one of the two major annual festivals of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala. It is held for ten days in the Malayalam month of Meenam (March-April). The other major festival of the temple is the Alpashi Utsavam, held in the month of Thulam (October-November).
During the Painkuni festival, special rituals, processions and cultural programmes are held at the temple. On several days, the processional images of the deity are taken around the temple on decorated vehicles (vahanams). An interesting feature of the festival is the display of huge figures of the five Pandavas, the heroes of the Mahabharata, made of wood and clay and decorated in bright colours, which are installed near the eastern entrance of the temple. Kathakali and other traditional performances are also held.
The festival ends with the Arattu, the ceremonial bath of the deity in the sea. The images of Lord Padmanabha (Vishnu), Narasimha and Krishna are carried in a grand procession from the temple to the Shanghumugham beach, accompanied by caparisoned elephants, music and armed guards. The procession is led by the head of the Travancore royal family, who walks with a ceremonial sword, as the kings of Travancore regarded themselves as servants of Lord Padmanabha ("Padmanabhadasa"). After the ritual bath in the sea, the images are taken back to the temple in a torchlight procession. Because the procession route crosses the runway of the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, flights are suspended for a few hours on the day of the Arattu, a tradition that has continued since the airport was built.
The Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu, shown reclining on the serpent Anantha. It became world famous in 2011, when its underground vaults were found to contain a huge treasure of gold, jewels and other valuables.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Karnataka is known for festivals such as the Mysuru Dasara and the Karaga.
- ✗Goa is known for festivals such as Shigmo and the Zatras.
- ✗Odisha is known for the Rath Yatra of Puri.
Quick tip
Remember: The Painkuni festival = the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), the month of Meenam and the Arattu procession to Shanghumugham beach, for which airport flights are suspended.
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Festivals & Fairs of India — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Festivals & Fairs of India, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the religious, harvest, tribal and cultural festivals of India, the fairs (melas) held across the country, and the states, communities and seasons linked to them. It also includes festivals listed by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage, such as Kumbh Mela and Durga Puja in Kolkata. Most questions ask which state celebrates a festival, which tribe it belongs to, or what event it marks. Harvest festivals are especially common: Pongal (Tamil Nadu), Onam (Kerala), Bihu (Assam), Lohri and Baisakhi (Punjab) and Nuakhai (Odisha). Fairs such as the Pushkar camel fair (Rajasthan) and the Sonepur cattle fair (Bihar) are also frequently tested. Revise festivals state by state. Practise the festivals and fairs questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.