The Karivela festival isn’t a distinct major festival in Wayanad, but Karivela is a specific ritual seen at Kerala temple festivals, involving devotees covering themselves in black paint/charcoal as fierce warrior-attendants for the Goddess, especially popular in Palakkad (like Nenmara Vallangi Vela) and other parts of Kerala, but Wayanad celebrates its own harvest festivals like Puthari and temple festivals like Thirunelli Vishu.
What Karivela is:
- Ritualistic Body Painting: Devotees paint their bodies black with charcoal, symbolizing fierce warriors or divine attendants of the goddess.
- Temple Festivals: It’s a ritual performed during major temple festivals (Pooram/Vela) in Kerala, often with elephants and percussion.