Alappuzha: The feast at St George Forane Church, Edathua, began with the hosting of the ceremonial flag at 5:45 am on Saturday. The flag was hoisted by Vicar Fr. Philip Vaikathukaran following the holy ceremony at the main altar of the church in the presence of devotees welding silk parasols, candles, and crosses made out of silver and gold. This marked the beginning of the feast day of St Geevarghese Sahadha.
Devotees had started arriving for the festival on Friday itself. The festival will last for 18 days and will reach its zenith on May 7th with the holy mass led by Bishop Emeritus Peter Remigius followed by a public procession. The festival will conclude on May 14.
St. George Forane Church is over two centuries old and is a major pilgrim center in the region. The community is a part of the Syro Malabar Church in the Archi-Eparchy of Changanacherry. At present the church has about 10000 parishioners belonging to two thousand five hundred households.
Every year thousands of devotees attend the annual festival, most of them from the neighboring Tamil Nadu and other parts of South India. It is the pilgrims from Marthandom, Kanyakumari, and Chinnamuttom in Tamilnadu who carry the statue of St.George on the main festival day on May 7.
