Photo: Fahad MuneerThrissur: The stage is set for the mother of all festivals. Scores of artisans are busy preparing for the Thrissur Pooram.
Photo: Fahad MuneerThrissur Pooram is all about novelty. There would be no used prop on display. The alavattams, venchamarams, caparisons and colourful parasols have to be brand new.
The Paramekkavu and Thiruvambadi camps, whose ritualistic rivalry presents the crux of the pooram, keep the parasol designs a strictly guarded secret until the big day.
Photo: Fahad MuneerAlso read: These small colourful pieces of cloth have a #Thrissur Pooram connect
The rooms near the devaswom offices have been out of bounds for the outsiders for a few days. Skilled craftsmen are busy making the parasols to be flaunted on top of the caparisoned elephants on the pooram day.
Photo: Fahad MuneerDifferent sets of craftsmen are working on the bamboo frames, colourful clothes and the frills that go into the parasols. Each parasol requires three meters of cloth. Once the cloth is procured, the craftsmen stitch it on to the prepared frames.
Photo: Fahad MuneerAt least three days of labour goes into each parasol. A special parasol could take up to four days. The cutting of the cloth demands extreme skill. Aranattukara Purushothaman and team are in charge of making the parasols for the Thiruvambadi camp, while Kunnathangadi Vasanthan leads the team that makes the parasols for the Paramekkavu camp. Both craftsmen have more than 30 years of experience in parasol making.
Also check: Thrissur Pooram: here's what you need to know
Both the camps keep their cards close to the chest.They would not even reveal the number of parasols they plan to raise on the festival day. Each set includes 15 parasols. A performance requires at least 45 sets. There were 50 sets of parasols last year. This time both camps are expected to flaunt 60 sets each. Including about 15 colourful parasols the number could go up to 900 this year.
Photo: Fahad MuneerThe parasols usually come in green red, white, yellow or violet. They are made of velvet cloths most often. While the Thiruvambadi parasols feature Kathakali and Krishna Leela as a leitmotif, the Pramekkavu camp opts for Siva and the goddess of Chottanikkara. They sometimes carry silk parasols that glitter like gold.
Photo: Fahad MuneerAlso read: These are the best spots to watch Thrissur pooram like a local
Any cloth can be used to make parasols. They have to be radiant though. Even churidar cloths and wedding saris are used to make parasols. Reams of cloths are procured from Chennai, Mumbai and Surat. The craftsmen keep a sample of cloths used every year to avoid the pattern for the next year.
This time parasols are made of net, velvet, nylon, satin, synthetic, Benaras, brocade, China silks. Both camps raise five or six special sets. Last year the special parasols were made of bamboo, thatches. This time the organisers are for more conventional designs.
