Bike Shifting in Irinjalakuda

Irinjalakuda has a long association with its temple, its colleges and the classical performing arts. The packers page is about the instruments, costumes and ornaments many households here keep. For a bike, the town's traditions matter in a different way: the temple festival.

When the festival comes round, the town changes. Processions move along set routes, often with caparisoned elephants, percussion ensembles and large crowds following. Roads on the route close to vehicles for hours. Roads near it fill with visitors' cars and two wheelers. Police manage traffic over a wide area. For residents, it's a highlight of the year. For a moving carrier, it's a set of days to avoid.

A bike collection is a small job, but it still needs the carrier to reach a stopping point near your home, stand there for a few minutes, and leave. On a procession day, it may do none of those.

So check the festival calendar first.

Find out the dates. Ask early; the festival is the town's biggest event and everyone will know. The temple announces its festival dates well in advance, and the local papers, the temple office and your neighbours will know them. Festivals can run over several days, with the biggest processions on particular days within them.

Find out the routes. Ask which roads the processions use and when. If your home is on or next to a route, avoid the whole festival period for the bike's collection if you can. If you're a few streets away, the main procession days are the ones to avoid.

Watch the build up too. The days before a big procession can bring stage building, decorations, temporary stalls and crowds of visitors arriving. Roads can be narrower than usual even before the main day.

Choose a quiet day either side. The week after can be calm, as the town rests. A weekday a week before or after the festival is usually calm. If your move must fall in the festival period, choose a day without a major procession and an early morning slot.

Think about the sound, too. Percussion ensembles during the festival are loud, and some bikes' alarms trigger at the vibration of heavy drumming close by. If your bike has a sensitive alarm and stands near the route, consider disarming it during the festival week, or parking it a street away.

Think about other temples and churches too. Irinjalakuda isn't the only place with festivals in the area, and smaller local feasts and processions happen through the year. Your neighbours will know what's coming on your street.

At the delivery end, check the new address for local festival dates as well.

If you're moving into Irinjalakuda during the festival season, the same care applies to the delivery. A bike that arrives on a procession day may have to wait on the edge of town until the roads open. Choose an arrival date the way you'd choose a departure.

Whatever the season, wait at the gate with the bike, its key and its papers, and the carrier is gone in minutes.

Vetted partner movers from the Thrissur side collect bikes in Irinjalakuda. They come on a date we have checked against the festival with you, and the written price and the accountability stay with us.

Our Irinjalakuda packers page covers instruments, costumes and irregular fragile items. This page is about the festival that sets the town's calendar.

Being light and silent, an electric scooter can slip round to a side road loading point on a busy day, though no bike passes a procession. When you call, tell us the brand, and say if you can lift the battery out yourself.