Pooram
Encyclopedia
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
festival
Festival
A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....
held in central Kerala (Thrissur
Thrissur
This article is about the city in India. For the district, see Thrissur district. For the urban agglomeration area of Thrissur see Thrissur Metropolitan Area...
, Ernakulam
Ernakulam
Ernakulam refers to the downtown area or the western part of the mainland of Kochi city in Kerala, India. The city is the most urban part of Kochi and has lent its name to the Ernakulam district. Ernakulam is called the commercial capital of the state of Kerala and is a main nerve of business in...
, Palakkad
Palakkad
Palakkad , formerly known as Palghat, is a municipality and a town in the state of Kerala in southern India, spread over an area of 26.60 km2.The city is situated about north of state capital Thiruvananthapuram. It is the administrative headquarters of Palakkad District...
, parts of Malappuram
Malappuram
Malappuram is a municipality in the South Indian state of Kerala, spread over an area of 33.61 km2. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Malappuram district. As per the 2011 census Malappuram urban agglomeration is the fourth largest UA in kerala with a total population of...
) after the summer harvest. Most pooram festivals have at least one ornately decorated elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
being paraded in the procession taken out of the temple precincts. However, there are some, such as Aryankavu Pooram near Shoranur
Shoranur
Shoranur is a town and a municipality in Palakkad district, Kerala,located on the banks of the Bharathapuzha River spread over an area of 32.28 km2.it is a major transport hub , having the largest railway station in the state .Kerala Kalamandalam which is the premier centre for the learning...
and Machattu Thiruvanikavu Vela near Wadakkanchery that do not use the caparisoned elephant, instead go for stilted mannequins of horses or bullocks. The most famous of all Poorams is the Thrissur Pooram
Thrissur Pooram
Pooram is one of the nakshatras or star in the Hindu panchangam. There are 27 Nakshatras in the Hindu panchangam and a million or more temples in Kerala, and this combination creates numerous possibilities for auspicious occasions, with each temple having varying importance for the different stars...
. Some other well-known pooram festivals are Kollam pooram
Kollam pooram
Kollam Pooram is one of the most colourful festivals of Kerala, India. Kollam Pooram attracts large number of people from all parts of the State. The Kollam Pooram, organised in connection with the annual festival of the Asramam Sri Krishnaswamy Temple, will be held at the Asramam Maidanam in the...
, Arattupuzha-Peruvanam Pooram, Nenmara Vallangi Vela, Uthralikavu Pooram
Uthralikavu Pooram
Uthralikkavu more formally known as Shri Rudhiramahakalikav is a Hindu temple situated at Wadackanchery in Thalappilly taluk of Thrissur district in Kerala, South India...
and Chinakkathoor Pooram.
Musical Ensembles of Pooram
A melamMelam
Melam is the common name for percussion instruments that are unique to Tamilnadu, Kerala and parts of South India. The most traditional of all melams is the Pandi Melam, which is generally performed outside the temple. Another melam called the Panchari Melam, which is similar to Pandi Melam, but...
is a classical performance of different kind of musical instruments that are unique to Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
and is something akin to the jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
. The most traditional of all melams is called Pandi Melam
Pandi Melam
Pandi melam is a classical percussion concert or melam led by the ethnic Kerala instrument called the chenda and accompanied by ilathalam , kuzhal and Kombu....
which is generally performed outside the temple, during the festival. Another kind of melam is called Panchari Melam
Panchari melam
Panchari Melam is a percussion ensemble, canonically lasting more than four hours, performed during temple festivals in Kerala, India. Panchari Melam , is one of the major forms of chenda melam , and is the best-known and most popular kshetram vadyam genre...
, which is similar to Pandi Melam going by the kind of instruments, but played inside the temple and following a different rhythmic beat.
Panchavadyam
Panchavadyam
Panchavadyam, literally meaning an orchestra of five instruments, is basically a temple art form that has evolved in Kerala. Of the five instruments, four -- timila, maddalam, ilathalam and idakka -- belong to the percussion category, while the fifth one, kombu, is a wind instrument.Much like any...
(pancha in Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
means five) is another classical musical ensemble
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
performed in Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
. Here, five different kinds of instruments create a breathtaking and fastmoving percussion performance. The five instruments are Madhalam
Madhalam
The maddalam or madhalam is a drum made out of the wood of the jackfruit tree. It has two sides for playing, made out of leather, and has different kind of sounds on each side...
, Kombu
Kombu, Kerala
Kombu is a wind instrument usually played along with Panchavadyam, Pandi Melam, Panchari melam etc. This musical instrument is usually seen in Kerala state of south India. The instrument is like a long horn ....
, Edakka, Elathalam
Elathalam
Elathalam, or Ilathalam, is a metallic musical instrument which resembles a miniature pair of cymbals. This instrument from Kerala in southern India is completely made out of bronze and has two pieces in it....
and Timila
Timila
Timila is an hour-glass shaped percussion instrument used in Kerala, South India. It is made of polished jackwood, and the drumheads made of calfskin are held together by leather braces which are also twined round the waist of the drum...
.
Thayambaka
Thayambaka
Thayambaka or tayambaka is a type of solo chenda performance that developed in the south Indian state of Kerala, in which the main player at the centre improvises rhythmically on the beats of half-a-dozen or a few more chenda and ilathalam players around.A thayambaka performance on the chenda has...
is a solo Chenda
Chenda
The Chenda is a cylindrical percussion instrument used widely in the state of Kerala, and Tulu Nadu of Karnataka State in India. In Tulu Nadu it is known as Chande....
(drum) performance, where the performer uses one stick and the other hand to play the instrument instead of the usual two sticks.
Other Attractions of Pooram
Interesting attractions of Pooram can be seen in the Valluvanad and Talappilly region. There is the Harijan Vela or Parayar Vela as well as the Tholpavakoothu, a traditional shadow puppetry show.See also
- Thrissur PooramThrissur PooramPooram is one of the nakshatras or star in the Hindu panchangam. There are 27 Nakshatras in the Hindu panchangam and a million or more temples in Kerala, and this combination creates numerous possibilities for auspicious occasions, with each temple having varying importance for the different stars...
- Kollam pooramKollam pooramKollam Pooram is one of the most colourful festivals of Kerala, India. Kollam Pooram attracts large number of people from all parts of the State. The Kollam Pooram, organised in connection with the annual festival of the Asramam Sri Krishnaswamy Temple, will be held at the Asramam Maidanam in the...
- Nemmara Vallengi Vela
- Edakkunni Uthram VilakkuEdakkunni Uthram VilakkuUthramvilakku is a temple festival celebrated at Edakkunni in Ollur, south of Thrissur in central Kerala, south India. The highlight of the event is an over four-hour Panchari melam in the temple compound past midnight on the uthram day, with each of the five caparisoned elephants on the occasion...
- Elephants in Kerala culture