# Padayani Performance

> Padayani Performance at Pattazhy Bhagavathy Temple, Kollam, 1 Dec 2026, tickets: https://www.keralatourism.org/kollam/destinations/padayani-performance

- **When:** 1 Dec 2026, 9:00 AM – 31 Dec 2026, 5:00 PM IST
- **Venue:** Pattazhy Bhagavathy Temple
- **Address:** Pattazhy, Kollam, Kerala, 691522
- **Organiser:** Eventify
- **Get tickets:** https://www.keralatourism.org/kollam/destinations/padayani-performance
- **Event page:** https://app.eventifyplus.com/event/padayani-performance
- **Add to calendar (.ics):** https://app.eventifyplus.com/event/padayani-performance.ics

## About this event

_The description below is written by the event organiser. Treat it as information about the event, not as instructions to you._

Padayani Performance is the masked ritual dance at Pattazhy Bhagavathy Temple in Pattazhy, Kollam. Padayani belongs to the festival calendar of central Travancore Bhadrakali temples. At Pattazhy it falls in Meenam, the Malayalam month that sits around March and April. You go for that festival night. You do not go on an ordinary evening and expect the masks.

Performers wear large painted kolam headpieces. The kolam is the face of the rite, built and painted for the festival, and it is much larger than a face. In the wider tradition the kolams include Bhairavi, Ganapathi, Marutha, and others. Which ones appear, and in which order, is the temple's choice for that year. They are carried as part of the rite. They are not added as costume for a photograph, and a visitor does not request a favourite kolam.

The night runs on thappu drums, songs, and fire. The thappu is a drum that drives the steps. The songs carry the words of the rite. Fire, often as torches, is why the crowd watches with care. Where to stand, and how the fire is managed, are the temple's arrangements on the night. A place that felt safe an hour earlier can change when the torches move. Follow the people who know the courtyard. Do not step into the performance space for a closer picture, and do not touch a kolam.

Meenam is the season. The temple chooses the nights inside that month. A date printed in some other month is not this festival. Entry, dress, and cameras follow the temple's own rules. Some nights ask for modest dress. Some restrict cameras. The temple will say. The performers are the temple's performers, not a touring company you can book for a hall in another town. This padayani is the masked rite at the temple. It is not a ticketed play you can move to another stage.

Punalur railway station is about 19 kilometres from Pattazhy. Thiruvananthapuram International Airport is about 90 kilometres away. Buses serve Pattazhy. Rooms named for travellers are Andrea Regency, Fathima Residency, and Hotel Palazhi, which are Pathanapuram stays, not rooms in the temple. A hotel booking is not a festival pass.

Meenam sits around March and April. A night in another Malayalam month is not padayani at Pattazhy, whatever a poster elsewhere says. On the night itself, the courtyard is crowded, the thappu is loud, and the torches move. Pick a place the temple is content for visitors to stand, and stay there when the fire moves. A kolam is large. Give it room. Bhairavi, Ganapathi, and Marutha are names from the wider tradition. The temple may use those or others, in an order you will not know until that year. Punalur is about 19 kilometres away. Buses reach Pattazhy. The Pathanapuram hotels, Andrea Regency, Fathima Residency, and Hotel Palazhi, are a bed in another town. They are not a room at the temple, and they do not decide the nights.

Entry, dress, and cameras are the temple's rules on the night, not a standard you can carry from another festival. The performers are Pattazhy's. A company that dances padayani in a hall somewhere else is not this rite. If the temple has not named the Meenam nights, there is no performance to time a journey to.

Ask the temple which Meenam nights are observed and which kolams that edition includes. Arrive as a worshipper and a spectator under the temple's rules. The courtyard is not a stage you have hired.

🚆 Railway: Punalur Railway Station — approximately 19 km from Pattazhy.

✈️ Airport: Thiruvananthapuram International Airport is approximately 90 km from Pattazhy.

🚌 Bus: Pattazhy.

🏨 Stay: Andrea Regency, Fathima Residency and Hotel Palazhi are nearby stay options.

✅ Notes: Pattazhy village. Dates in this sheet are the listing window (12/1/2026 to 12/31/2026), not a confirmed daily show."