Category: Festivals of Kerala

Thrissur Pooram is a grand, the largest and most famous of all the poorams held in Kerala, which happens outside the Southern gate of the Vadakkunnathan temple. On the day of Pooram in Medam of the Malayalam Calendar, the people all around the globe witness this enchanting pooram. HISTORY The then Maharaja of Cochin (1790–1805), Raja Rama Varma who is also known by the name Sakthan Thampuran was the mastermind behind the starting of the Thrissur Pooram. Before that, the largest festival was the one- day festival, which is held at Aarattupuzha, which is known as Aarattupuzha Pooram. The regular participants of the Thrissur Pooram are the temples in and around the city. During the Aarattupuzha Pooram, many of the temples that came from Thrissur were not allowed for the Pooram procession during the year 1798 because of constant rains. Because of the embarrassment, the temples authorities raised the issue with Sakthan Thampuran. Hearing this, he decided to unite the temples located around Vadakkunnathan Temple and prearranged the celebration of Thrissur Pooram as a mass festival. He invited temples with their presiding deities to Thrissur to pay their due respect to Lord Vadakkunnathan, the presiding deity of the Vadakkunnathan Temple. There is something unique about this festival. Everything that is being used in the festival is made fresh every year from scratch. There are various levels of people who are given the duty to design the umbrellas and the nettipattam. ABOUT VADAKKUNNATHAN TEMPLE Vadakkunnathan Temple is a very ancient Hindu temple, which is dedicated to Shiva at the Thekkinkadu Maidan in Thrissur. This temple has huge walls on all the sides along with a kuttambalam. Vadakkumnathan is the perfect and classic example of the architectural style of the then Kerala. Mural paintings highlighting various episodes from Mahabharata can still be