Thiruvananthapuram: The Indian airport that halts flights for a divine procession

BBC News

15-04-2025

For a few hours on a warm April day, jets paused and silence reclaimed the skies above the international airport in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of the southern Indian state of Kerala.The airport's closure was not due to bad weather or a technical glitch, as one might assume, but to make way for a Hindu temple procession that marches right across its runway.Devotees pull ornate wooden chariots bearing temple idols along a 2km (1.2 miles) stretch of the runway, a tradition so revered that it shuts down operations for a few hours at the airport, which usually handles 90 landings and take-offs daily. Elephants, a common part of Hindu religious events in India, also walk on the runway.The event, which took place last Friday, is part of the annual Painkuni festival held by the famed Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple, home to treasures worth billions of rupees.
The procession, taken out on the final day of the 10-day festival, begins at the temple and heads through the runway to the Shanghumugham beach, around 6km away. When the procession arrives at the beach, priests give a ritual bath in the sea to the idols. The return journey follows the same route, crossing the runway again and reaching the temple.The procession is led by the head of the former royal family of Travancore, which built the airport in 1932. It's not clear when the festival and the procession started but the ritual has been followed since then, even when the management of the airport passed on to the government and then a private company.The airport is currently managed by Adani Airport Holdings Ltd, owned by billionaire Gautam Adani's Group. The airport also shuts down operations for a few hours for a similar procession during the temple's Alpashi Festival, usually in October or November every year.The Thiruvananthapuram International Airport is one of the few airports in the world that closes down for a religious event. Others include Indonesia's Ngurah Rai Airport during the Balinese Hindu new year and Israel's Ben Gurion Airport on Yom Kippur, which is the holiest day in Judaism. But these are public holidays when the airport shuts down entirely and it's rare for a high-security runway to be used to actually facilitate a religious or cultural event.
Rahul Bhatkoti, chief airport officer, said the airport was proud to have the opportunity to preserve the legacy of the temple's procession."This is likely the only airport in the world which facilitates such a historic event," he told the BBC before the procession entered the airfield on Friday evening.Since the airport has only one runway, both domestic and international terminals are closed during the procession.Most of the international flights operating here are to and from the Middle East, where a large number of Indian workers, including many from Kerala, live and work. Airport authorities said they informed airlines of the closure two months in advance and 10 flights were rescheduled on the day."The procession begins around 16:45 local time and takes approximately four hours to complete," Mahesh Balachandran, the temple's executive officer, told the BBC. Attendance at the event is limited and strictly monitored.
Only senior royal family members, priests, officials and selected devotees are allowed to take part, and they must have special passes issued by the temple trust, along with security clearance from airport authorities. "The procession passes through the airport with full ritualistic vigour twice a year during the Painkuni and Alpashi festivals," Mr Balachandran said. "It proceeds peacefully, without any incidents. Everything is planned meticulously." The Central Industrial Security Force, the paramilitary which handles airport security, barricades the entire runway for safety and manages the crowds."We also monitor the crowd through surveillance cameras. After the procession, the runway is inspected to ensure safety and security," said Mahesh Gupthan, the airport's corporate communications manager.The procession passing through the airport is a reminder of how "heritage and modernity co-exist here, every year", Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor wrote on X after last week's procession. Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, X and Facebook.