The most spectacular of festivals in Kerala, the Thrissur Pooram is an experience that visitors to Kerala invariably enjoy and love to witness time and again. It is a gathering of a unique sort, comprising people of all age groups and of course elephants that form an integral part of the whole spectacle.
This annual celebration usually takes place in the months of April/May. The pooram day is the culmination of several ceremonies and rituals that take place some days prior to it. Thiruvambadi Sri Krishna temple and the Paramekkavu Bhagavathi temple enjoy special status as the two key participants at the forefront of festivities during the Thrissur Pooram.
On the pooram day, thousands of people gather at the Thekkinkadu Maidanam in front of the Vadakkumnathan Temple in Thrissur to witness a tradition that is more than 200 years old. From early morning onwards, elephant processions from participating temples reach the Vadakkumnathan Temple to pay their obeisance to Lord Shiva, the presiding deity. Traditional percussion ensembles accompany these processions. Other ceremonies on the pooram day include Madathil Varavu (elephant procession led by Thiruvambadi temple to Brahmaswom Madam) and the Ilanjithara Melam (percussion ensemble featuring about 60 musicians) which commences by noon.
Following the conclusion of Ilanjithara Melam the festival enters the most spectacular phase of all - the Kudamattam. With two groups of elephants lined-up facing each other, Kudamattam involves the display and changing of colourful and ornamental parasols in quick succession by the teams of the Thiruvambadi and Paramekkavu temples. And by night the skies light up with dazzling display of fireworks marking the conclusion of festivities.
Getting there
Nearest railway station: Thrissur, about a km away. Nearest airport: Cochin International Airport, about 58 km from Thrissur. |