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| Thrissur Pooram 2019, sea of humans. Indianexpress.com |
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| Flag hoisting Thrissur Pooram PenNews.net |
The amazing thing is lakhs of people made a beeline to Thekkinkadu Maidan and Swaraj Round to watch the festivities, unmindful of humid weather, sweat and dust. They never looked fatigued; nor the huge milling crowd and noise had dampened their spirit. This annual event was a visual treat to every body- procession of caparisoned elephants, of gods, percussion ensembles, and most importantly the fireworks at night. It was the ruler Raja Rama Varma, popularly known as Sakthan Thampuran, the Maharaja of Cochin (1790–1805), it is believed, who introduced this Poorum festival here. Later it became the largest Hindu temple festival of Kerala, superseeding the one-day festival held at Aarattupuzha known as Arattupuzha Pooram. Temples in and around the city of Thrissur were regular participants.
Above image:
The famous elephant Thechikkottukavu Ramachandran opening the Thekke Gopura Nada of Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple, Thrissur. With District Collector's permission, the elephant was brought to this place in a lorry. The Vilambaram ritual, which declares open the pooram celebrations, is about bringing the idol of Naithilakkavu Temple, Kuttor to the Vadakkunnathan temple. Another elephant Thechikkottukavu Devidasan, carried the idol from Naithilakkavu temple to Manikandanal on the Swaraj Round...........................
This Pooram festival, that may include as many as 36 hour-long festivities is symbolic of the meeting of deities (Utchavars) from near-by 10 different temples. Traditionally it begins with the arrival of the procession from Kanimangalam Sastha by 7.30 am. This was when ‘cherupoorams’ start entering the Thekkikadu Maidan. This is followed by procession from other temples. The main venue is
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| Poorum festival, 2019 Thrissur. indianexpress.com |
This year saw the participation of 90 well-trained elephants, in many events. Though the festival itself is just one day, preparations begin months in advance as several things need to be taken care of for the simple reason it will attract huge gathering of people and perfect coordination among the nearby ten participating temples. As mentioned earlier, seven days before the Pooram, temple flags are ceremoniously hoisted at the two main participating temples, the Paramekkavu Bhagavathi Temple and the Thiruvambadi Sri Krishna Temple, officially kick-starting the proceedings. Over the years, the Pooram has become a secular event as one may see participation of many people from other faith. This kind of religious harmony and tolerance is essential for a country's upward growth promoting unity among the countless communities.
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/unprecedented-crowd-witness-vilambaram-ritual/article27109067.ece
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrissur_Pooram