travel4india: April 2012

Saturday, 7 April 2012

HISTORY OF THRISSUR POORAM

Many Hindu rituals and festivals date back centuries, the Thrissur Pooram is only about 200 or more years old. It was orchestrated by the ruler of Cochin, Sakthan Thampuran or Raja Rama Varma, in 1978. Sakthan Thampuran , so known for his firm and decisive administration, decided to break tradition and create a venue for the temples belonging to his region to celebrate their pooram festival. Before the advent of Thrissur pooram, the largest temple festival during summer in Thrissur thaluk was the one-day festival held at Arattupusha, 12 km south of the city. Temples in and around Thrissur were regular participants of this religious exercise until they were denied entry by the cheif of Peruvanam Gramam. The delay caused by the temples from Thrissur and Kuttanellur, was one of the reasons for denial. This caused the Thrissur Naduvazhi the cheif poojari of Vadakkunnathan, known as Yogadiripad and the Kuttanellur Naduvazhi started the pooram in Thrissur. This pooram started as an act of reprisal quickly lost its clarm, after infighting between the two main Naduvahis. It required the intervention of the ruler to get this right.

Sakthan Thampuran unified the 10 temples situated around Vadakkunnathan temple and organised the celebration of Thrissur Pooram as a mass festival. Sakthan Thamuran ordained these temples into two groups, Western group and Eastern group. The Western group as Thiruvambady consisting of Kanimangalam, Laloor, Ayyanthole, Nethilakkavu and the Thriuvambady temple, as the main one. The Eastern group called as Paramekkavu, consisting in addition to Paramekkavu temple, Karamukku, Chembukavu, Choorakoottukavu. and Panamukkamppilly. The pooram was to be centered around the Vadakkunnathan temple, with all these temples sending their poorams (the whole procession), to pay obeisance to the shiva, the presiding deity. The Thampuran is believed to have chalked out the program and the main events of the Thrissur pooram festival. It is this histroical background that determines the course of the pooram program and it is specifically the ruler's antipathy to the Brahmin aristocracy to open Thrisur pooram for the common man.