The hundreds of devotees you are watching in this clip had gathered at the Catholic St. Andrew's Forane Church, 15 km away from Alappuzha to take part in the annual Arthunkal Perunnal, the Feast of St. Sebastian. The highlights of the concluding day of this 10-day festival, which falls in the beginning of January, include a ritual offering by which devotees crawl on their knees all the way from the nearby beach to the church and a ceremonial procession from the church to the beach.