Relevance: prelims current affairs
The 2019 edition of the Thrissur Pooram, an extravagant temple festival in Kerala involving scores of elephants, traditional percussionists and high-voltage fireworks has attracted lakhs of visitors.
What is all About:
- Duration and Time: Thrissur Pooram is a seven-day festival which is celebrated on the day when the star sign ”Pooram” occurs in the Malayalam month of ”medam”.
- History: Thrissur Pooram has a tradition of more than 200 years. This spectacular event was the brainchild of Raja Rama Varma, famously known as Sakthan Thampuran, the Maharaja of Cochin (1790–1805).
Participants:
- The main temples in Thrissur such as the Paramekkavu Devi temple and the Thiruvambadi Sri Krishna temple have to pay their obeisance to Lord Shiva, the presiding deity of the famed Vadakunnathan temple.
- The two aforementioned temples oppose each other during the celebrations and their ”elephant teams” compete with one another on the sixth day through the elephant procession, fire works and overall cultural representation.
Major highlights:
- A grand display of the fifteen elephants is one of the most anticipated aspects of this festival. The fifteen elephants are decorated in stunning, gold-threaded work and finery.
- Fireworks are an integral part of Kerala’s temple festivals, but the Thrissur Pooram is referred to as ”the mother of all” firework and temple celebrations.