The beautiful coastal village of Kulasekarapattinam is just situated 15 kilometers from Thiruchendur in Tuticorin district in Tamil Nadu. This place owes its popularity to the Dusshera festival conducted in the Mutharamman Temple in the same village. Various people from the nearby villages and from rest of the state pour into this seaside village just to see the devotees of this temple dress up in differ ent costumes during the pooja and auspicious offerings to the goddess. The Dusshera festival usually spans for 10 days during the month of "Purattasi". However it begins 40 days earlier in Mutharamman Temple with the hoisting of the temple flag. The devotees immediately start observing fasts and they also tie holy threads in the arms. The decision on the choice of costume (different Kalis) and their col our entirely depends on the priests advice or through astragalomancy or cowries. They believe in dressing up as Kalis for three consecutive years for the fulfilment of their wishes. Three days prior to the festival, they dress up as the Goddess; go around village to beg and also to offer their astragalomancy to others. It is a custom to believe that the goddess herself has come in the form of these de votees. The money collected through this process is directly offered to Goddess Durga. There goes a lot of procedure and rules to the people dressing up. People from different village are separated into groups or sets. Only the person dressed up as the 'Kali' in that group is considered to be important and as the leader. The others take up the roles of other deities like Lord Shiva, Vinayaga, Murugan, K rishna, Hanuman, Sudalai Madam and even the roles like policemen, women and kings. The Dusshera festival of Kulasekarapattinam People & Culture: A TO Z INDIA ● DECEMBER 2021 ● PAGE 28 Purushoth Appu