Thrissur Pooram Festival

Thrissur Pooram Festival

Thrissur Pooram is called 'the pooram of all poorams' (festival). It is the biggest of all poorams held in Kerala state, and is celebrated every year in the month of Medam (mid-April to mid-May) as per the Malayalam calendar. Thrissur City plays host, for 36 hours from the wee hours of the pooram day, to one of the largest collections of people and elephants. The richly decorated elephant, as seen during the Thrissur Pooram, is now globally recognised, and its association with Kerala. On the pooram day, fifty or more elephants pass through the very center of Thrissur City, the Vadakkunnathan Temple. The main features of the pooram are these decorated elephants with their nettipattam (decorative golden headdress), beautifully crafted kolam, decorative bells and ornaments. Added to this is the panchavadyam, the rhythmic beating of the drum, and what would be a cacophony otherwise is turned into an organized but spontaneous symphony. The fireworks display in the early hours of the next day rivals shows held anywhere in the world, without even using many of the modern pyrotechnics.