Thiruvananthapuram | The proclamation ceremony of the ‘Murajapam-Lakshadeepa' festival at the famous Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple here was held at the East Nada of the shrine on Thursday.

Members of the erstwhile Travancore royal family, Gowri Parvathibai, Gowri Lakshmibai and Aditya Varma, handed over the proclamation chart to actor Mohanlal at the ceremony.

He read out the proclamation which states that the ‘Murajapam-Lakshadeepa' festival at the temple will be held between November 20 and January 14 next year.

‘Murajapam' is a 56-day-long ritual held once in six years at the temple. It involves the continuous chanting of the Vedas and ‘Vishnu Sahasranamam' ( a hymn of a thousand names of Lord Vishnu). Around 200 Vedic scholars will participate in the chanting.

The festival culminates in the ‘Lakshadeepam' on the ‘Makara Sankrama' day on January 14, a grand event when the temple will be illuminated with 1 lakh oil lamps.