Spring: The season to celebrate
Kerala wakes up to some festival or the other every day of the year. But the spring months bring along a special air of festivities. Over a hundred festivals are celebrated in Kerala across the Malayalam months of Kunibham. (Aquarius), Meenam (Pisces) and Medam (Aries).

Apart from world renowned events like the Thrissur Pooram, Kerala celebrates scores of festivals which are equally Important and exotic. This brochure features five of the major spring festivals that showcase the spectacular elephant pageants of Kerala: Thaipooya Mabotsavam at Koorkancherry, Pooram at Sree Chinakathoor Bhagavathy Temple, Uthralikavu Pooram at Sree Ruthira Mahakalikavu Temple, Arattupuzha Pooram and Nenara-Vallangi Vela.

The glossary of the Malayalam terms used, given at the end of the brochure, will help you get a more colourful picture of the festivities.

Pooram: When the gods meet
The legends and myths behind each festival of Kerala are many, varied and equally interesting. Since the word pooram literally means a group or a meeting, it was believed that every year the dynastic gods and goddesses of neighbouring provinces met together for a day of celebrations. This usually happened on the pooram asterism of one of the spring months.

The gods and their entourage arrived for the meeting on colourfully decorated tuskers. Even today, the converging of these divine processions at the festival venue is an awe inspiring sight. The pooram draws to a close with mindblowing Fireworks displays In the evening and In the wee hours of the next morning.

Some of the main pooram celebrations are at Arattupuzha, Thrissur, Uthrallkavu, Cheerarnkulangara, Pariyanampetta, Mannarkad, Perumanam, Aryankavu, Mangottu, Medarnkulangara, Kodikal, Thirumandhamkunnu etc.

Vela: To please the Mother Goddess
Vela is usually celebrated in the temples of the Devi (Mother Goddess also known as Durga, Kali or Bhagavathy). In addition to all the festivities of pooram, this event features a velakali (a ritual martial art) performance by the local people. Two of the more popular vela celebrations are at Nenmmara-Vallangi and Kannambra.

The elephant pageant. Kerala's very own spectacle
No celebration in Kerala is complete without an elephant pageant. The gentle giant has been revered like divinity and accorded the privilege of escorting the numerous gods and goddesses of this land. Until a few years ago many well-to-do families In Kerala owned an elephant which was considered a member of the household.

Most festivals of Kerala feature spectacular elephant processions. The pooram and (,Pln1 festivals are the best occasions to watch the majestic tuskers in all their caparisoned splendour. Colourfully decked up elephants numbering fifteen to hundred or more line up on the temple premises. With mahouts atop them, holding high tinselled silk parasols (muthukuda) and swaying white tufts (venchamaram) and peacock feather fans (aalavattom) to the rhythm of the temple orchestra.

An elephant pageant is usually accompanied by the panchavadyam (the traditional five instrument musical ensemble) which works up to a frenzy as the kudamattam ritual (the synchronised changing of the parasols atop the tuskers) gathers speed.

Koorrkancherry Thaipoova Mahotsavam

Venue : Sree Maheswara Temple, Koorkancherry, Thrissur
Access : The temple is just a two km drive from Thrissur town. Regular bus / taxi services are available. Nearest airport: Cochin International Airport, Nedumbassery, 58 km from Thrissur.

This annual seven day festival, also referred to as Thaipooya Kavadiyattam, paints the town in a riot of colours. Festivities on the pooram day begins with the devotional rites at four o'clock in the morning. Later, processions of devotees from various neighbouring regions, carrying the exotic kavadi on their shoulders, stream into the temple courtyard. Each group then dances with the kavadis. The kavadiyattam goes on until late afternoon. This is followed by the ceremonial procession of the deity escorted by majestically caparisoned elephants, to the accompaniment of the nadaswaram (the long horn typical of Kerala). Folk arts like karakkattom and mayilattam are presented on the temple premises in the evenings.

Chinakathoor Pooram

Venue : Sree Chinakathoor Bhagavathy Temple Palappuram, Palakkad
Access : The temple is only 5 km from Ottappalam town in Palakkad. Frequent buses and taxi services are available. Nearest airport : Coimbatore, 55 km from Palakkad.

The ceremonial procession at the festival features 55 tuskers. Festival evenings come alive with the presentation of traditional music and art forms like panchava panchavadyan, vellattu, theyyam/thira, pootham, kaalavela, kuthiravela, karivela, andi velan etc. An interesting feature of the celebrations here is the evening tholpavakoothu (puppet show) performance which begins 17 days prior to the festival.

Utharalikavu Pooram

Venue: Sree Ruthira Mahakalikavu Temple, Parithipray, Vadakancherry, Thrissur
Access : The temple is 2 km from Vadakancherry on the way to Shornur. Nearest airport: Cochin International Airport, Nedumbassery, 58 km from Thrissur.

This is on of the most important festivals in central Kerala. Colourful elephant processions accompanied by panchavadyam and pandimelam, during the (day and at night, mark the eight day long celebrations. Evenings are eventful with ritual and folk art performances that go on until dawn. The highlight of the festival is the all night pooram pageant on the concluding day. The rituals are conducted In the glow of the traditional temple torches.

Arattupuzha Pooram

Venue : Arattupuzha Temple, Thrissur
Access : The temple is 14 km from Thrissur town. There are frequent buses and taxi services to the temple. Nearest airport: Cochin International Airport, Nedumbassery, 58 km from Thrissur.

Arattupuzha Pooram is the oldest and the most spectacular of the pooram festivals of Kerala. It is believed that on this day a hundred and one gods and goddesses of the neighbouring villages visited Sree Ayyappan, the presiding deity of the Arattupuzha Temple. Even today, 61 elephants feature in the pooram procession on the sixth day of the seven day festival. Panchavadyam, nadaswaram, pancharimelam and pandimelan add to the festive tempo. The arattu (holy bath of the idol of the deity) ritual is performed with great pomp and gaiety in Arattupuzha river on the following day.

Nenmara - Vallangi Vela

Venue : Sree Nellikulangara Bhagavathy Temple, Kodakara, Palakkad
Access : 48 km from Thrissur. Nearest airport : Cochin International Airport, Nedumbassery, 58km from Thrissur.

The Nenmara-Vallangi Vela, the greatest vela festival in Kerala, is a 20 day celebration. Kodiyettam (the ceremonial flag hoisting) marks the beginning of the festival. The concluding day, the most auspicious day of the festival, features an unparalleled spectacle. Legends say that on this day the patron deities of the two villages - Nenmara and Vallangi - visit each other.

Thirty bejewelled tuskers from the two villages assemble under brightly decorated canopies on the premises of the Nellikulangara Bhagavathy Temple, to mark the great occasion. The pageant is accompanied by panchavadyam, pandimelan and folk arts. The all night celebrations draw to a close with a splendid fireworks display in the small hours of the morning.