Today is a different
day after Corona Virus threat struck and India announced lockdown – it is
version 3 – the previous lockdown ended on 3.5.2020 and there is some
relaxation though the no. of people affected is racing higher daily. Sadly, one finds so many people out there on
roads – does everyone have some serious work ? – people on road, driving
walking, no social distancing, long queues, chaos at liquor shops .. .. amidst chaos, there are some who are
exceptionally good !
As you travel from
Coimbatore, Palghat towards – Cochin (Ernakulam) by train, one cannot miss this
Railway station called ‘Cultural capital’ – daily trains are available from
here to Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkatta, Bangalore, Mangalore, Hyderabad and of
course Chennai. It has 3 satellite
stations too – Punkunnuam, Ollur and Mulankunnathukavu .. .. easily identifiable.
Last
year there were heated debates and arguments and High Court had to decide on
allowing the most famous and the tallest
elephant to head the parade. In a show
of Unity, the Federation of Elephant
Owners also threatened to stop renting out jumbos to festivals across the state
if his ban to attend Pooram was not revoked.
This year the authorities sought permission to parade just a solitary
elephant and 5 people – even that was not allowed for a festival which attracts
lakhs of people. People are not restive, they have not fought the ban, but have
observed patience and have held the festival in the simplest manner – that is
utmost discipline - “Thrissur
Pooram Festival” 2020.
Recently I have
posted on ‘Adi Shankara jayanthi’ about
his birthplace @ Kalady and the famous song in which Shankaracharya visits
temples. One of the earliests would be
‘Natha, Vadakkunatha’. More than 1232
years ago Shivaguru and Aryamba of
Kalady devotedly prayed here for 41 days and with the boon of Lord
Vadakkumnathan, Sankarar was born. When
offered a choice of a mediocre son with long life or an extraordinary son who
would die early, the parents chose the latter. Vadakkunathan, is the name of Lord Shiva in the city of Thrissur, Kerala. The
temple that is the heart of the city of
Thrissur is enclosed by colossal walls of stone under an area of around eight
acres. The four directions, East, West, North and South in the temple have been
indicated by four Gopurams inside the temple premises. In the centre of the
temple there is multi shrined complex, besides the four Gopurams. The three key
shrines of the temple have been dedicated to the Vadakkunatham or Lord Shiva,
Lord Rama and Shankaranarayana. Mural paintings
depicting various scenes from the Mahabharata can be seen inside the temple.
The temple was
built at the time of Perumthachan from Parayi petta panthirukulam. It is said
that Perumthachan lived during the second century; so the Koothambalam is more than 1,600 years old. The Pooram festival held here in May
everywhere is very grand, scores of elephants and lakhs of people attend this
festival. Thrissur Pooram is called the mother of all Poorams in kerala. In
Malayalam it's called "poorangalude pooram".
This is conducted in the Malayalam month of Medam. The deities from Parmekavu
and Thiruvambady temple along with other small poorams come engage in
festivities in front of Vadakkumanathan. It's a 36 long hour festival which
attracts thousands of enthusiasts from all over the state as well as vistors
from other regions and abroad. The main attractions of Pooram are
Madathilavaravu panchavadhyam, Elanjithara melam, Kudamattam and Vedikettu. The
festival is a visual feast for all those who enjoy it.
The
Thrissur Pooram is being held since 1798 at Thekkinkkadu ground in front of the
famous Vadakkunnathan Siva temple. Two groups, consisting of five temples each,
take part in the Pooram in a competitive mode. One group is led by Thriuvambadi
Srikrishna Temple and the second one is led by Paramekkavu Bhagavati Temple.
The 10 temples send their pooram (complete procession) accompanied by elephants
carrying deities. Exchange of ornamental umbrellas atop the elephants standing
face to face is one of the spectacular events of the festival. The temples
parade about 100 captive elephants owned by individuals and religious
institutions.
This
year the District Collector rejected the request from Paramekkavu devaswom
seeking permission to parade one elephant for Thrissur Pooram amid the
coronavirus outbreak. In the request, the devaswom has sought permission to
carry out the popular temple festival with a single elephant and five people.
Earlier, the district authority and devaswom committees have decided to conduct
only the necessary rituals on the Pooram day on May
3 and avoid all extravagances including elephants' parade. At the same time, a
decision to call off the Thrissur Pooram completely was taken in a meeting of
ministers and devaswom committee members. Meanwhile, the government has granted
permission to Thiruvambady and Paramekakvu temples to carry out ‘Kodiyettam’ ahead
of the Pooram. Only five people including the priests were allowed to attend
the ‘Kodiyettam’ ceremony.
The Thekkinkadu
ground usually turns into a sea of humans dancing to the frenzying rhythm of the
traditional 'ilanjithara melam' (percussion orchestra) on the day of the
largest temple festival in Kerala. Elephant
lovers in tens of thousands come to
admire the majestic jumbos, all adorned in grand caparisons and other golden
finery. The traditional 'vedikettu' is a one-hour fireworks spectacle conducted
by the Thiruvambady and the Paramekavu devaswoms. This splendid pageantry is
what makes Thrissur Pooram a unique experience where tradition and culture meet
with spiritual elation. However, this year, things were different. The
Thekkinkadu ground wore a deserted look.
The famous
'upacharam cholli piriyal' is the ritual where the goddesses of Thiruvambady
and Paramekavu say farewell to each other promising to meet next year. However,
this centuries-old tradition, too, was missed this year due to the lockdown
restrictions.
Last year, the authorities
delayed and almost denied permission to the tallest pachyderm Thechikottukavu
Ramachandran, the most majestic tusker elephant in heading the procession. Devotees fought and elephant owners announced
that none of their elephants would participate, if Ramachandran were to be
denied the traditional honour. Eventually
faith won over everything else and the grand majestic tusker Thechikottukavu Ramachandran, owned by
Thrissur Thechikkottukavu Peramangalthu Devaswom was born in 1964 and was
bought young from Assam and brought to Kerala where he is always enjoying a
celebrity status.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
4.5.2020
PS: all
the photos taken from the web – have kept the credits as they are on the
pictures.
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