Oachira Kali is a festival that takes place in June in

Oachira, Kerala Oachira or Ochira (') is an ancient temple town located 32 km away from Kollam city in Karunagappally taluk, Kollam district in Kerala, India. Temple town Oachira is one of the famous sacred places of Kerala and in India. Oachira i ...

, India. It is a mock battle between two groups, to the sound of drums, in a waterlogged field called padanilam at the

Oachira Temple Oachira Temple is an ancient temple located in Oachira in Kollam district in the South Indian state of Kerala. According to the Puranas, this temple is one of the famous sacred places of Kerala and India. Oachira is on the border of Kollam and ...

. Oachira Kali is celebrated in commemoration of the battle of

Kayamkulam Kayamkulam is a town and municipality in the ''Onattukara'' region of Alappuzha district in Kerala. It is the second biggest town in Alappuzha district. It is located on the western coast of India, and was an ancient maritime trading center. O ...

, fought between the

Maharaja of Travancore The Maharaja of Travancore was the principal title of the ruler of the Kingdom of Travancore in the southern part of Kerala, India. The Maharaja of Travancore was the topmost ruler of Travancore until 1949, when Travancore was annexed into Indi ...

Marthanda Varma Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma (Malayalam: ) was the founding monarch of the southern Indian Kingdom of Travancore (previously Venadu) from 1729 until his death in 1758. He was succeeded by Rama Varma ("Dharma Raja") (1758–98).Subrahmany ...

and the Raja of

on the plains of

. The Padanilam or battlefield is a

paddy field A paddy field is a flooded field (agriculture), field of arable land used for growing Aquatic plant, semiaquatic crops, most notably rice and taro. It originates from the Neolithic rice-farming cultures of the Yangtze River basin in sout ...

adjacent to the famous Oachira Parabrahma temple and the festivities are part of a ritual associated with the shrine.

References

Military reenactment Festivals in Kerala {{India-festival-stub