Today, Swara wanted to write about her memory of the famous Thrissur Pooram.
‘Having spent most of my childhood in Thrissur, Kerala, it is indeed a shame if I do not write about the historic Thrissur Pooram. Thrissur Pooram is an annual religious festival held at the Vadakkunathan Temple on the ‘pooram’ star in the medam month (April 16-May 15) of the Malayalam calendar. The pooram is more of a healthy competition between two temple groups – the Paramekkavu Bhagawati temple group on the one side and the Thiruvambadi Krishna temple group on the other. The kodiyettam (official flag hoisting) takes place exactly one week before the date of the pooram, accompanied by fireworks, drums and trumpets, amidst a huge gathering of devotees. The highlights of the pooram are majestic elephants adorned with beautiful nettipattams (golden ornamental covering for the trunk of the elephant), Aalavattom (fan made of Peacock feathers), Venjamaram (royal fan), sacred bells and decorative umbrellas. On the day of the pooram inside the vadakkunathan temple starts the Ilanjithara melam, consisting of drum, trumpets, pipe and cymbal. On the pooram day evening, 30 caparisoned elephants, 15 on either side, stand facing each other in a wonderful ceremony called the ‘Kudamattam’. The two groups, in the presence of melam, competitively put up a display of a series of colourful and intricately crafted umbrellas atop the elephants, which is an important attraction of the pooram.
In the wee hours of the morning after the pooram, there is also a huge display of Vedikkettu (fireworks) which go on for a very long time. It is a beautiful sight and tourists from all over the world come to witness this eye catching event. The two groups then cordially bid each other farewell, looking forward to next year’s meeting. The festival ends with kodiyirakkam amidst fireworks.
The terrace of the buildings surrounding the Thrissur ground where the pooram takes place, would be completely filled with people wanting to get a bird’s eye view of the pooram. Talking of the festival, whenever any relative visited us during this time, either mom or dad would take them to watch the pooram. This year we had no guests, but I insisted on going for the fireworks display lasting 3 hours. My parents were sure I wouldn’t be able to stay awake the whole night as I was just 6 years old, but thanks to my persistent nagging, they yielded and we set off, all four of us.
We were soon on the terrace of a bank close to the ground (dad knew the bank manager, hence we were able to get a place). It is otherwise very difficult to get to watch the pooram fireworks. We reached there around 10pm. For the first half an hour I was very active and full of excitement, finishing off all the snacks that we had carried with us. Soon more people came to the terrace and the place became very crowded. It was very hot as it was peak summer. There were lots of mosquitoes too. Now I was getting annoyed and bored. I wanted to go home. Only, the crowd was so much that we could not even move an inch from where we were! There would be a stampede if we tried moving towards the exit !I started sobbing. I missed the comfort of my bed! Then came the speech from dad “Didn’t I tell you? you would not listen to me. Now put up with this”. This silenced me for the time being.
By now we were all seated on the terrace ground, waiting for the Fireworks to begin. It was early morning around 2.30 am. The fireworks began with a 15 minute long chain crackers . The noise of the crackers were too much for me. I started crying loudly. It was inaudible because of the sound the crackers made. Mom and dad, both did not know what to do with me. I was breathless out of sobbing. My poor sister, though she would have stayed at home given a choice, was trying to console me. I was uncontrollable. I suddenly got up and began walking squeezing my little form through the crowd. My parents, screaming, asking me to wait, started following me. Only I was moving faster than them. After a while I found myself in the middle of nowhere. All I could see was people around. I couldn’t believe I was lost. Only if I had listened to my parents!
I did not know what to do. I had no sense of direction now. I kept squeezing myself through the crowd. I was petrified. I prayed to Lord Krishna, my favourite God.
Soon I caught a glimpse of my mom’s saree. I gathered all my energy and desperately pushed through the crowd and caught hold of it. She was so relieved, yet pinched me hard. I guess I deserved it and was only happy. That pain seemed so soothing!
We then made our way out together. We soon got an auto and reached home. We all went to sleep, all waiting to get those couple of hours of sleep. We woke up late the next morning. None of us spoke about the pooram. I could read from the expressions on my parents’ faces what a rough night they must have had! This is an unforgettable pooram experience for me! I have never asked to go for a pooram firework display after that! Once they started live telecast on television, I started watching on TV. Actually watching a pooram live can be compared to watching a cricket match live. The ‘feel’ is different when you watch it happening live, rather than on TV.I do wish though that I had a pleasant and wonderful experience watching the famous Thrissur pooram live, which I would have happily narrated in sequence! I definitely want to watch it live some day, enjoying it fully.
I would like to mention here how my parents used to insist on saying our prayers everyday, even though it was for just 5 minutes a day Mom would tell us stories from the Ramayana, Mahabharata, the mischiefs of Krishna and since then I have always believed in the power of prayers. And He always answers me.
That’s all folks. Until next time.’
Swara wound up.
