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Vishu, the equinox, is one of the important festivals of Kerala. It is in the middle of April. According to the Hindu traditional Malayalam calendar, the New Year begins this day. 'Kani Kanal', the auspice first sight at the beginning of the year, is the main ritual. In the wee hours of Vishu day, the lady of the house arrange the Kani. Coconuts, fruits, cereals, a mirror and Konna flower are placed in big Bronze pan before the garlanded icon of Krishna. Oil lamps are lit around the deity. Before dawn the master of the house is ushered to sight of the Kani, the auspice 'once in a year' sight of the Lord, amidst fruits, food and finance looking into the future, followed by the rest of the family and Children who are brought blind folded from their beds to the site of Kani.

The eldest in the family gives silver coins to youngsters and bless them. It is believed that the auspice sight of Kani and receipt of money by dawn, the first thing in the New Year bring happiness and prosperity fo the whole year. In Kerala the Kani of the idols in Guruvayur, Ambalapuzha and Sabarimala temples are considered much more auspicious.

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This is the Durga Puja of Bengal, Dussera of Bombay and the Saraswati Puja and the Ayudha Puja of the south. Its entire course runs over 9 days. It is the last three days that are most important. These are known as Durga Ashtami, Mahanavami, and Vijaya Dasami. On the night of the Durga Ashtami day, there is the ceremony known as 'Puja Vayppu'. It consist in decorating a room splendidly, illuminating it with many lights and arranging on a platform, raised in the middle of the room, the things necessary for doing Puja to Saraswati, the goddess of learning. Books and weapons of various kinds are tastefully arranged and a picture or image of the goddess placed in the centre. The worship then commences with accompaniment of music. This goes on night and day till the morning of the third day, when the 'Puja Eduppu' or breaking up of the Puja takes place. After the performance of special religious service, the arrangements on the platform are formally removed and the Puja broke up. Then follows the 'Vidyarambham' or the beginning of learning. On the last three days of Puja, all sorts of learning are kept in abeyance; no one will read or write or do any handicraft or work with any material. Every sort of business is at a stand still. After the Removal of Puja, work commences. During the Puja Vayppu people generally fast.

In Travancore the Navaratri is a state ceremony celebrated with great magnificence. During the old times in Padmanabhapuram, all gates of the city were beset with soldiers, and no one was allowed to go out or enter. The festival continued for eight days, and when it was over, the king distributed presents to Brahmans. Each received a rupee. The high priest presented to the king a Vastram; which is a piece of silk or cotton stuff, a Viraghen; worth about three scudi and a cow as the support of life because these people lived chiefly on milk and butter. Such a present is called Godanam. It is said that there is no evidence for that the Godanam or gift was made to the king by the high priest. The gift  must have been made by the king to the high-priest.

On Vijay Deshami day the Maharaja goes in state accompanied by the state officers and escorted by the military to a place called Pujappura a couple of miles from the fort at Trivandrum and shoots an arrow into consecrated tender coconut placed for the purpose. After this the procession returns and his highness standing in the Verandah of the 'Karivelappura Malika' in front of the Trivandrum temple strews money amongst the crowd collected below.

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'Maha Siva Ratri' means the great night of Siva. It is celebrated in the month of March. On this day, people fast. Some abstain from any kind of food, while others content themselves with one meal. Strict vigil is kept in the night. The people cluster round the Siva temple, and after bath they smear their bodies with holy ashes, and keep on reciting prayers to Siva. Enthusiasts, more devout than the rest perform rolling circumambulations round the temple, while the ordinary worshippers go round it on foot a number of times. Puja to the image of Siva is kept up all the night. Early next morning, people bathe once more, worship Siva and return to their ordinary avocations.

The celebration of this festival at Siva temple at Alwaye on the banks of the Periyar river is attended with great éclat. The Lingam of Siva rises out of the sand on the sand at the bank of the river. There is only a temporary shed to serve as a temple, as the whole place will be flooded during the rainy season. All classes, castes and creeds come for this festival. A fair is heed on a very large scale. There are shows, dances, dramas, for the pilgrims, to keep them awake. There are a number of small sheds spread about the sand banks where the devout Siva worshipper sets up his own Siva lingam for worship.

On Sivaratri, all the devotees throng in great numbers to the temples of Siva or Mahadeva. They remain there the whole night, sing all sorts of incident songs in honour of the Lingam. Lingam represents the creative power of luminary.

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