Thrissur Celebrating the Pooram

Thrissur Pooram, one of the main festivals of Kerala, was celebrated at Thrissur, the cultural capital of state,on 09th of  May this year. The festival, as usual, attracted huge crowd to Thekkinkad Maidanam, the Vadakkumnathan temple ground, where the pooram is conducted every year.The celebrations of pooram began in the city days before. People from all over the world gathered here for witnessing the festival, which is considered as one of the main and biggest temple festivals of Kerala. 

The colourful festival started with the Kodiyettam, the ritualistic hosting of festive flag, on 03 May 2014, seven days before the Thrissur pooram. Ten temples, viz, Thiruvambady, Paramekkavu , Ayyanthole Karthyayini ,Nethilakkavu Bhagavathi , Karamukku ,  Laloor Bhagavathi, Choorakkattukavu Bhagavathi, Chembukkavu Bhagavathi, Panamukkumpally Sastha and Kanimangalam Sastha, participate in this unique festival. These temples form two different groups . Thiruvambadi temple and Parammekkavu temple are the leaders of the two different groups and the key participants of this festival. 

The day before Thrissur pooram, on 08 May 2014, there was exhibitions of the decorations for the elephants participating in pooram, called Aanachamaya Pradarsanam. The exhibitions were conducted by the leaders of the two teams in the festival - the Thiruvambadi and Parammekkavu temples.

The main festival, the Thrissur pooram was celebrated on 09th May 2014 with several rituals including Madathilvaravu, kudamattom and Elanjithara Melam, creating a feast on percussion instruments. The spectacular fireworks begins on 03.00am and continue till early morning. On 10th May, there is Pakal pooram,a brief of the Thrissur Pooram, especially for the localities. The festival ends with the ritual upacharam cholli piriyal, the farewell.