Painkuni Festival

Painkuni Festival is one of the most celebrated festivals of Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram. This ten-day festival commences with kodiyettu - the hoisting of the ceremonial flag. The festival falls during the months of March/April. As part of this festival, huge fibre glass figures of the Pandavas (the five sons of Pandu in the Indian epic Mahabharata) will be placed at the eastern entrance to the temple. It is believed that the figures are put up to propitiate Indra, the Rain God.

On the ninth day of the festival, the head of the Travancore Royal Family performs the palli vetta (royal hunt) ritual, near the Vettakorumakan Temple in the Fort area. The festival concludes with the aarattu procession to the Shanghumugham Beach.