Thrissur Pooram – A Visual Extravaganza
Thrissur Pooram, a real cultural crowd puller and one of the golden trademarks of Gods Own country, Kerala, is a true visual extravaganza in all respects. Celebrated in the Malayalam month of Medam (April-May) it consists of processions of richly caparisoned elephants from various neighbouring temples to the Vadakunnatha temple, Thrissur. The most impressions are those from the Krishna temple at Thiruvambadi and the Devi temple at Paramekkavu, both situated in the town itself. The legend says that this festival was introduced by Rama Varma Sakthan Thampuran, the Maharaja of erstwhile Kochi state. The Pooram festival is also well-known for the wonderful display of fireworks. It is celebrated by two rival groups representing the two divisions of Thrissur Paramekkavu and Thiruvambadi vying with each other in making the display of fireworks grander and more colourful. Each group is allowed to display a maximum of fifteen elephants and all efforts are made by each party to secure the best elephants in South India and the most artistic parasols, several kinds of which are raised on the elephant’s head during the display. Commencing in the early hours, the celebrations last till the break of dawn, the next day.
At the close of the Pooram both these groups enter the temple through the western gate and come out through the southern gate to array themselves, face to face, one from the round and other form the Municipal Office road. This spectacle is highly captivating. Although this grand festival is known as Thrissur Pooram, it is in fact the conclusion of the eight-day Festival of nine temples.
The procession of the Thiruvambadi Pooram to the grounds of Vadakkunnatha Temple and back is not only important, but also quite bracing. There is also 'Panchavadya' competition, which attracts a lot of people every year. The marvellous as well as magical effect of the Panchavadyam, a combination of five percussion and wind instruments, is to be felt and enjoyed.
It was by a historical accident that the Pooramfestival originated. Once, ten poorakar from Thrissur set out to Arattupuzha to celebrate Pooram there. However, they couldn’t reach the destination as they were stranded midway due to heavy downpour. The residents of Arattupuzha blamed them for their absence from the festival. Disgusted with this, they decided to dissociate from the Arattupuzha Pooram in future. On knowing this, Rama Varma Sakhthan Thampuram (1789 – 1805), who was building Thrissur town at that time, asked these poorakars whether they could not celebrate Pooram at the Thekkinkadu parambu in the presence of Lord Vadakkumnatha. This was the origin of the famous Thrissur Pooram.
Panchavadyam is an orchestra composed of Timila, Maddalam, Edakka, Cymbals (Elathalam) and Kompu. Panchavadyam primarily is based on ‘Omkar’ or the sacred syllable of ‘Pranava’. It is an ensemble performed mostly during temple - festivals. Panchavadyam provides sufficient scope for collective and individual performance. Sanghu is blown three times, to mark the beginning of this orchestral music. Starting from a slow tempo it steadily progresses and reaches the crescendo. It is a tower of rhythm created in front of caparisoned elephants lining up in the temple-yard during the festival. The music of Panchavadyam is engrossing especially in the lush green background of the pastoral-temples. Panchavadyam is performed during the festivals of the Temples in Kerala, mainly in Central Kerala. The most famous performance is that during the Thrissur Pooram, known as the "Madathil Varavu" Panchavadyam. It is performed by the Thiruvambadi Temple camp.
The fireworks associated with pooram, popularly known as ‘Vedikettu’ is one of the most attractive part of the pooram festivity. However, this wasn’t the case for this pooram as ‘Vedikettu’ was called off after seven people were killed following an explosion at a cracker manufacturing unit. The mishap occurred on the day before the ‘Sample Vedikettu’. The reason still not known. This is not the first time Pooram ending in an unhappy atmosphere. Experts point out the following reasons for such tragedies.
- Poor handling of crackers
- Inexperience in handling and conducting such fireworks
- High atmospheric temperature
- Short circuit
Tragedies in brief
- 1952 – Sabarimala witnessed a firework explosion, killing 68 lives
- 1978 – Firework explosion in Thrissur claiming 8 lives.
- 1984 – 15 people died in church festival in Kandasam Kadavu in Thrissur. In 1989, the church again witnessed a cracker tragedy claiming 12 lives.
- 1987 – 20 people were killed in Vellatamchur temple festival in Thrissur.
- 1988 – 10 women workers were killed in fire work mishap in Thrippunithara.
- 1990 – 26 died in Kollam Malanada Temple festival.
- 1999 – 8 died in Palakkad in a cracker explosion.
Elephants are caparisoned with ‘Nettipattam’, which covers the forehead. This a thick cloth into which is sewn about six thousand gold plated glittering metal pieces. Each elephant carries three men, one holds the coloured parasol; the other two stand on the back. They holds the ‘Aalavattam’ and ‘Venchamaram’.
Caparision http://www.thefreedictionary.com/caparison
