Trissur Pooram - The biggest event of Kerala and one the largest events in the world !

3 days, 10 Temples, 100 thousand people, 30 gods, 120 Elephants, 250 musicians and You !
It’s a time when the entire city of Trissur comes to a stand still to celebrate a carnival on a scale that is as grand as it gets.

Thrissur pooram is one of the largest carnivals of Asia. It attracts millions of tourists from across the world to this carnival. The event happens around the month of April-May depending on astrological calculations. Unfortunately this year it was restricted to a ritual only, no crowds no celebrations.

Usually it happens on the day when the moon rises with the Pooram star in the Malayalam Calendar month of Medam. While the actual festival lasts for three days with the last day being the climax. The festivities around the carnival starts off a good one month before and continues for a fortnight after the event. While Kerala is a province rich with natural beauty, Trissur is the cultural capital of this province. It’s also often referred as the city of ten temples!

Temple Front Facia

Apart from Trissur Pooram being a cultural event, it's also an economic activity of significant importance. Many medium and small businesses, small time vendors and people involved in street side vending literally live off of this festival. Something unique about this festival is that everything used in the festival is made fresh every year from scratch. There are people who are given the duty to craft the umbrellas and the (Face Mask for Elephants) nettipattam.

My Father

Since the festival happens in the city square, on that particular night all space that overlooks the city center balconies, terrace and living and bed rooms have a price tag. People have been making money of this long before someone thought of AirBNB. The prices vary depending on the facilities provided. They start off around 6-7K INR / USD $100 Per seat for the final night. An evening on a terrace with comfortable seating, good food and fine scotch can cost upto INR 30000 / USD $500/ per seat.

The pooram grounds are close, almost walking distance from Trissur Railway station and the main inter-state bus stand. If you are coming from outside, the best way to get there is to fly to Kochin and then take a cab or a bus to Trissur. The airport is about 50 kilometres. That's about an hour plus.

In case you are wondering what is this event you have never heard about, let me explain. Thrissur Pooram is an annual Hindu festival held in Kerala, India. It is held at the Vadakkunnathan Temple in Thrissur every year on the Pooram day - It is the largest and most famous of all poorams. The word pooram roughly translates to ‘carnivals in a religious context’.Just like the church was a powerful figure back in day, in India temples held a similar position. Hence most large-scale public events were sponsored by royalty and organised by various temples. Thekkinkadu maidanam, (The huge playground and open space) encircling the big and powerful Vadakkunnathan Temple, is the main venue of the renowned Thrissur Pooram festival.

Vadakkumnathan Temple is an ancient Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva in Trissur. This temple is a classic example of the architectural style of Kerala and has one monumental tower on each of the four sides. Mural paintings depicting various scenes from the Mahabharata (A famous Indian Epic) can be seen inside the temple. The temple, along with the mural paintings, has been declared as a National Monument by India under the AMASR Act. According to popular local lore, this is the first temple built by Parasurama, the sixth avatara of the Hindu God Vishnu.

In fact this temple is so ancient that no one including the historians know the actual construction date. Even scriptures couple of thousand of years old allude to this temple as an “Ancient temple”. I wonder how ancient that must be!

In fact, the history of Trissur Pooram has royalty playing a major role in conceiving the event. Thrissur Pooram was the brainchild of Raja Rama Varma, famously known as Sakthan Thampuran, the Maharaja of Cochin. Before the start of Thrissur Pooram, the largest temple festival in Kerala was the one-day festival held at Aarattupuzha a town far from Tirssur. Temples in and around the city of Thrissur were regular participants. In the year 1798 because of incessant rains, the temples from Thrissur were late for the Arattupuzha Pooram(Carnival) and were denied access to the Pooram(Carnival) procession. Feeling embarrassed and angered by the denial, the temple authorities raised the issue with Sakthan Thampuran.

The status of the king
Source

He considered this an insult to his people and immediately decided that the rivals had to be shown their place.This made him take the decision to unify the 10 temples situated around Vadakkunnathan Temple and organized the celebration of Thrissur Pooram as a mass festival. He invited temples with their deities to the city of Thrissur to pay obeisance to Lord Vadakkunnathan (Lord Siva), the presiding deity of the Vadakkunnathan Temple.

See the pic carefully.You should get an idea of the crowd size
Zoomed in version of the pic above

The festival has ten participating temples. The three top temples are the main participants. The ten temples are first divided into two groups, namely "Paramekkavu side" and "Thiruvambady side". Paramekkavu temple being the 2nd biggest in Trissur and is located right opposite to Vadakkunnathan temple. The Thiruvambady temple is about 2 kilometres from these two temples and is the third biggest in Trissur. So, the 2nd and the 3rd biggest temples become the two contestants and the big guy hosts the event in its premises.

The festival is a treat for literally every sensation the human body possess. The place has over 500 vendors selling different gastronomical delights from across the length and breadth of this state.The festival started out as a Hindu one, However now the event cuts across social and religious boundaries.Today the festival belongs to humanity.

The Elephant Mask competition

The festival apart from the religious aspects that plays out in the temples, has a competitive side to it. Both sides try and design the most innovative, colorful and beautiful designs of decorative elephant umbrellas and elephant face masks. They then line up these hundred odd elephants on both sides and compete over the designs. This event is cheered by over 100k people. As residents of a state that pays the highest tax in India on account of liquor consumption come down to party, you can clearly imagine the atmosphere. The place is electric with hard core supporters of each side trying to be louder than the other.

That's atleast 70 elephants in one row The umbrellas and elephant masks kept on display one day before the main event The umbrellas in use

The whole town square is done up. The temples in question are lit up with lights and decorated. People put on their best clothes and come out with their friends and family. Vendors and street shops who have been waiting all year round for this event put out their best wares.

Also, there is a huge exhibition of Kerala culture and its produces nearby which is usually organized by the government.Pretty much everything famous about Kerala you can pick up at reasonable prices. So, if you forgot to get that packet of exotic spices or high-grade tea when you visited Munnar or Wayanad. No sweat, you can pick them up at the exhibition.

While there have been many calls from animal rights activists on use of animals(elephants) for religious purposes. Successive governments have avoided getting involved in the same. I took a lot of interest in this. While one can rightly debate the logic of taking animals out of their natural habitat, in this case atleast it seems these gentle giants are well cared for by the temples. Probably because it's a status symbols for any temple to have a fleet of well fed happy elephants.

Elephants in the parkI got that close The food they give them

The elephants have their own doctors and wellness regime! They are pampered.

World's Largest Clubbing experience

Also, Trissur pooram would be a incomplete without mentioning Panchavadhyam. This is a musical art form original to Kerala. Panchavadyam, literally meaning an orchestra of five instruments, is basically a temple art form that has evolved in Kerala. Of the five instruments, four — timila, maddalam, ilathalam and idakka — belong to the percussion category, while the fifth, kombu, is a wind instrument.

Usually this is played by teams of 5-10 people. Now imagine 250 musicians having a go at it. Now imagine 120 elephants who are conditioned by years of attending temple rituals where this music is always played, swaying to it. Now imagine 100K highly motivated people in high spirits clubbing to it. The musical ritual involves people “Putting their hands up in the air” and swaying to the music. It’s probably one of the largest clubbing experiences on the planet. Below is a sample. This is just give you a reference of what it sounds like. Now imagine something 20-30 times bigger.

Fireworks @ Trissur Pooram

Trissur Pooram is also famous for its climatic fireworks that happen on the last day of the event at night. It’s the final climatic event for the night. If you want to understand the size and scale of the fireworks that happen, here are a couple of facts that will help you jog your imagination.

1. There was a case which was finally decided in the Supreme Court of the country, if fireworks display of such a huge size should be allowed.

1. There is a sample firework display that happens in the day time one day prior to the final event. Military officials and fire drill officials, city administrative officials and health officials run a drill to see if the safety rules and best practices have been implemented.

This firework is not about the fancy colorful ones we see spreading out on global events. Nice red and green spirals with great aesthetics. Remember this event is about the local people and their culture. Hence the fireworks are literally explosives ! They are built for maximum impact and sound. If you are in the vicinity it won't feel like a sporting event. We are talking about something that sounds like a war zone. The fireworks have two levels. One is a basic set that goes in the background. It sounds like non stop Machine gun fire. Then while the first set is going on they set of the more powerful ones. These sounds like powerful explosives,. The video below should give you an idea. Enjoy ;)

We have had cases of houses developing cracks and damages to building structures as a result of the explosives. In fact it was these incidents that lead to the case that went to the supreme court and was finally judged in favor of the carnival organizers.

Now imagine the clubbing, the music, the fireworks, the elephants, the people, the gods, their cacophony and You! I am not going to try and insult the experience by using my limited vocabulary to explain something that is purely Adrenalin driven and can only be experienced. It’s like trying write about how it feels to jump of the edge of a cliff. If the idea of Panchavadhyam appeals to you. I suggest visit the place. Experience the event.

I hope you get to visit this place someday. If you have questions do reach out via the comments section. I will try and share.

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