The face-to-face meeting of 30 richly caparisoned elephants -15 each from the Paramekkavu and Thiruvambady, the two local temples, - was a spectacle. Thrissur: Traditional pomp and glory and the whopping participation of festival buffs marked the conclusion of yet another edition of the Thrissur Pooram, considered as the mother of all temple festivals, here on Wednesday.
The two century-old festival, held at the sprawling Thekkinkadu ground in front of the famed Vadakkunnatha Temple here, provided a visual treat to a large number of people who thronged the venue.
'Kudamattam,' the change of colourful ornamental silk parasols by people mounted on their top in quick succession, enthralled the audience who gathered the ground since Tuesday in huge numbers.
Percussion maestro Peruvanam Kuttan Marar led the 'Ilanjithara melam,' an assembly of percussion performance artists held at Ilanji tree in the premises of Vadakkunnathan Temple.
Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who was present here to witness the festivities, said in a Facebook post that the Thrissur Pooram was a 'secular festival' of Kerala.
The state government would do all possible things to showcase the Pooram, which is a pride of Malayalis world over, without losing its glory, he said.
The Thrissur Pooram had its origin in 1798 through a royal edict of Raja Rama Varma, popularly known as Shakthan Thampuran, a powerful ruler of the erstwhile princely state of Cochin. The edict entrusted two local temples - Paramekkavu and Thiruvambady - as the main sponsors to conduct the 'pooram' on the grounds of the Vadakkunnathan temple in the heart of Thrissur city.
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