All About Kerala's Thrissur Pooram Festival That's Cancelled For The First Time In Over 200 Years

Thrissur Pooram, Kerala’s biggest temple festival is cancelled in the wake of the ongoing Coronavirus outbreak, this has happened for the first time in the festival’s history.

Picture credit: www.keralatourism.org

Thrissur Pooram, Kerala’s biggest temple festival is cancelled in the wake of the ongoing Coronavirus outbreak, this has happened for the first time in the festival’s history. The festival is known at the ‘mother of all festivals’ in Kerala and people from around the world would flock in to witness it. The stars of the hero are the Elephants who are carefully selected before the festival by each participating temple. Kerala is known for its extravagant temple festivals and ceremonies which unifies people on a secular level. The festival dates back to 1798 in the 18^th century when Sakthan Thampuran, the Maharaja of Cochin unified 10 temples to create this big festival. The main highlights include a spectacular pageant of 50 caparisoned elephants brought from various temples of Kerala and a competition in the swift rhythmic changing of brightly coloured and sequined parasols (Kudamattom). In the Kudamattom, the two sides engage in a competitive display of colorful umbrellas of various designs. The procession of the caparisoned elephants is commonly known as ‘Aana Chamayal Pradarsana. The traditional percussion ensembles such as Pancharimelam, Pandimelam and Panchavadyam provide an extremely appropriate accompaniment to the visual treats. In the year 1962, the festival was just a ritual only event due to the Indo-China war. This will be the first time that the festival has been cancelled altogether since people can’t be in close proximity. Although, it is a Hindu temple festival, it is enjoyed and loved by everyone in Kerala. Thrissur Pooram is beyond a typical festival for Keralites. It is an emotion and a symbol of their secular culture and hope. This season the festival's most awaited events were to be held on May 2, but with the now extended lockdown billed to end only on May 3, the temple authorities that met here under State Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunilkumar decided to cancel it. "This is for the first time that this festival will not be held. But the temple rituals associated with the event will be held behind closed doors and just five people will be present," said Sunilkumar.