Silence reigned at Thekkinkadu Maidan, the main venue of Thrissur Pooram, on Saturday. There were no caparisoned elephants, colourful processions, eye-catching fireworks, or teeming crowds. The pooram came to a close with a few essential rituals performed on the premises of the Paramekkavu and Thiruvambadi temples. The organisers had earlier decided to keep festivities out of the pooram this time because of the lockdown restrictions. The flag-hoisting ceremony too was a low-key affair.
On Saturday, the Paramekkavu Bhagavathy was taken for arat after Malar nivedyam and usha puja and returned after arat. Percussion maestro Peruvanam Kuttan Marar accompanied the idol with chenda. The priests led the tantric rituals at the Thiruvambadi temple too.
Usually, lakhs of people from across the world witness the Thrissur Pooram to enjoy the percussion ensembles, elephant parade, and fireworks display. The pooram celebrations had been cancelled a few times earlier too, including in 1948 following the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi and during the India-China war in 1962. But even then, minimum celebrations using one elephant were held, recalled elders. This was the first time that the celebrations were totally avoided, they said.
A bit of history
Ten temples participate in the poooram which was started in 1798 by Sakthan Thampuran. The Thiruvambadi and Paramekkavu temples are its main conductors. In addition, Karamukku, Ayyanthole, Lalurkavu, Choorakkottukavu, Neythilakkavu, Chembukkavu, Panamukkumpally and Kanimangalam too take part.
The celebrations, which begin with Vilambaram ceremony in which Neythilakkavilamma, deity of a participating temple, will open the Thekke Gopura Nada of the Sree Vadakkunnathan temple to declare open the pooram. In the next 36 hours, deities of all the participating temples will visit the Vadakkunnathan temple. The pooram will conclude by the Upacharam Cholli Piriyal, the farewell ceremony, of the Paramekkavu and Thiruvambadi Bhagavathis. In the absence of the festivities, the pooram lovers celebrated it on social media by sharing the videos and photos of previous years’ celebrations. They pledged to compensate for the lack of festivity next year.
