Thiruvananthapuram: Flight services from the international airport in Kerala ‘s Thiruvananthapuram were suspended for five hours on Saturday afternoon to make way for the ‘Alpassi Arattu’ procession of Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in the district. The Thiruvananthapuram International Airport Limited (TIAL) confirmed the reports saying that the flight services resumed around 9 pm after the procession returned back to the temple.

The present head of the erstwhile Travancore royal family, Sree Moolam Tirunal Rama Varma, sporting the traditional green silk cap, an emerald necklace and carrying the ceremonial sword, led the religious procession from the temple to the Shankumugham beach across the tarmac of the airport. The procession began from the shrine at around 5.00 pm and besides the male members of the royal family, a large number of devotees and at least five caparisoned elephants were also part of the procession.

After entering the airport premises, the “utsava Vigrahas” (idols) of Padmanabha Swamy, Narasima Moorthy and Krishna Swami, were kept at the “arattu mandapam” near the runway for some time and later taken to the nearby beach for the rituals.

After a dip in the sea off Shankumugham beach, the idols were then taken back to the shrine in a procession lit by traditional torches marking the conclusion of the festival.

Flight services resumed at around 9 pm after the procession returned to the temple and the tarmac was cleaned and declared fit for air operations, an airport source said.

The airport has been pausing operations and rescheduling flights twice every year for decades to enable the bi-annual centuries-old ceremonial procession of the shrine to pass through the runway.

The practice of the temple procession passing through the route to reach the Shangumugham beach for the holy bath of the idols began centuries ago and it has been continuing even after the establishment of the airport in 1932.

When the airport was constructed in the particular place, the then Travancore King Sree Chithira Thirunal had made it clear that facility would be open for public for 363 days in a year and for two days for Lord Padmanabha, the titular deity of the royal family, according to historians.

The royal-era ritual has been continuing even after the Adani Group took over the management of the airport.

The airport issues a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) twice every year before the runway is closed during the bi-annual Alpassi festival which falls in October-November and the Painkuni festival in March-April.