For the first time since its inception, Thrissur Pooram, which had pride of place in the State’s festival calendar, has been cancelled.
A meeting here on Wednesday, attended by representatives of participating temples, unanimously decided to cancel the festival in the wake of the curbs imposed to check the spread of COVID-19. Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar said the pooram was cancelled as the lockdown had been extended till May 3. The pooram was scheduled for May 2.
“It is impossible to conduct the pooram celebrations by maintaining social distancing and other guidelines of the lockdown. Only the main rituals will be held at the respective temples, with the presence of maximum five persons. The celebrations connected to the pooram, including kodiyettam, will not be held,” the Minister said.
Exhibition cancelled
The annual pooram exhibition had also been cancelled. The Thiruvambadi and Paramekkavu devaswoms, the main conductors of the pooram, had already completed most of the arrangements for the festival.
For the first time
Elders recalled that though the Thrissur Pooram was held with just one elephant on a few occasions such as the India-China war in 1962, it was being cancelled for the first time.
