Aluva Manalpuram spruced up for Sivaratri

ALUVA: Aluva Manalpuram, on the banks of the Periyar, has been spruced up for Sivaratri festival on Friday. Thousands of people will throng the Manalpuram, popularly known as ‘Dhakshina Kasi,’ to offer tharpan for their ancestors, on Friday night. Aluva municipal council has joined hands with other departments for the smooth conduct of the festival.

The municipality will organise a three-week-long trade fair at the Manalpuram. The construction work of temporary municipal office, police station, KSEB office and 35 stalls for the trade fair, has been completed, said municipal chairperson Smitha Gopi on Wednesday. Medical assistance from Aluva Government Hospital and Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences will be made available at the Manalpuram.

The KSEB has completed the illumination work on the river banks and bathing ghats. Special attention to the safety of devotees would be ensured while ferrying them across the river in country boats. Expert divers from the Navy will be pressed into service. The colloids settled down at the bathing ghats in the Periyar, near the Manalpuram, have been removed.

The temporary office of the municipality (Ph: 2608400) and police station (Ph: 2608100) would function at the Manalpuram for three weeks.