The famous festival of
Thrissur Pooram will be celebrated on 21 April 2013 in Kerala.
Thrissur
Pooram festival is one of the most splendid and colorful temple
festivals of Kerala. Introduced by Sakthan Thampuran, the Maharaja of
erstwhile Kochi state, Thrissur Pooram is celebrated in the Malyalam
month of Medom, which usually falls in April or May. The
Thrissur
Pooram features cultural potpourri and artistic performances of
Paramekkavu and Thiruvambadi groups who vie with each other for the best
performance. The extraordinary, astounding processions from Krishna
Temple and Devi Temple are some other highlights of the festival. On the
day before the last day of the festival, the groups enter the
Vadakumnatha Temple through the western gate and come out through the
southern gate to parade face to face with each other. Caparisoned
elephants and the exchange of umbrellas look dazzlingly beautiful and
mesmerizing.
The amazing fireworks exhibited by the two-temple groups create
beautiful splendor in the Thrissur sky that looks like a rich tapestry.
The charming music of Panchavadyam, a combination of five percussion and
wind instruments, is pleasing to the ears.
Thrissur Pooram is in
fact the conclusion of the eight-day Utsavam of nine temples and all the
groups strive to be their best and hence, each party to excel the other
does the hiring of elephants and parasols in the utmost secrecy that are
paraded from early hours of the morning and celebrations continue day
and night till the dawn next day. The Pooram Festival is so called
because it is believed that dynastic gods and goddesses of neighboring
provinces meet annually for a day of celebration in one of the spring
months. 'Pooram' means groups. Some of the prominent Pooram celebrations
are held at Aratupuzha, Uthralikavu, Cheeramkulangara, Thrissur,
Mannarkad, Perumanam, Pariyanampetta, Aryankavu, Mangottu, Kodikal,
Medamkulangara and Thirumandhamkunnu. The traditional groups
representing the main geographic divisions of Thrissur are Paramekkavu
and Thiruvambadi.
