Pooram - Where Gods come together

I was 6 years old when Appa introduced me to Pooram. Pooram means festival, where gods & goddessess come together and there is celebration everywhere and ofcourse the elephants are the major fascination of this event. Nowadays, we see lot of documentaries in Discovery channel etc about this big festival in India. A lot is being written, documented and filmed about pooram now. Appa was quite sentimental about his birth place, Wadakkancherry, Kerala and had migrated to Mumbai in 1963 with his entire family in search of livelihood. They had spent all their childhood growing up in this small town in Kerala and annually there was this Pooram festival which used to take place near the Uttralikaav temple. The Utrallikaav temple is a beautiful place in Wadakkanchery amidst Paddy fields. Divinity just envelopes as you walk through the paddy on both sides towards the temple. 

Then at the age of 6 I didnt have a camera to catch the glimpse of this event like the many small children today who sport their handy cams or the mobile camera. So much of advancement has happened and the communication has just got faster and faster. Now we can see a Live telecast of this pooram festival on the cable television through some local channel. Later in 1993 during one of the summer vacations, Appa insisted that we must see Thrissur Pooram also. The pooram festival begins early with the exhibition of all the kodas (umbrella), Anna pattams etc. Fireworks is also one of the attractions of this pooram. But its too crowded!! 

The Thrissur Pooram is about to start in Kerala on April 30th. Below is a small article which my cousin sent this afternoon. 

 

Pooram - Thrissur (30 April)

If there is a festival that celebrates the meeting of gods in Kerala, it is Pooram. The word ‘Pooram’ it self means ‘a group or a meeting.’ It is believed that every year the gods and goddesses of the neighbourhood meet each other for a day of celebration. Thousands of devotees converge at Thrissur to take part in the festivities. Fireworks spectacle, umbrellas showing contest and a magnificent procession of gold-caparisoned elephants are the main high points of the Pooram Festival. The best elephants from across Kerala are gathered in Thrissur to take part in the Pooram festival. The giant procession provides an excellent opportunity for photographers to click this giant in all its regalia. Marching of more than a dozen elephants in perfect rhythm is a sight to behold. The procession of the caparisoned elephants is commonly known as ‘Aana Chamayal pradarsanam’. The Pooram Festival is celebrated in Thrissur at Vadakkumnathan Temple in the month of Medam (April-May) where the reigning deity is Lord Shiva. The temple located on a hillock right in the centre of the city attracts thousands of devotees from different parts of the country and the world. The grand Vadakkunnathan Temple is one of the oldest temples of Kerala. The temple is also known as the Thrissur Pooram Temple. Thrissur can be reached from Kochi (63 km), which is the nearest airport. Direct rail connections are available from Thiruvanantahpuram, Chennai and Mangalore. Frequent buses run to Thrissur from Palakkad, Kochi and Kozhikode.