The inauguration of Thrissur Pooram happens with the kodiyettam. This year, the kodiyettam happened on May 30. Over the next three days, there are the usual rituals in the temples such as aarattu, navakam, ucha puja and bhoota bali, where the deity visits the different desams and blesses her devotees as she accepts the offering of nelppara. From May 4 is the exhibition known as Aana chamayam, where the colourful parasols, and traditional fans such as aalavattom and venchamarom are put out on display.
The day of Pooram begins with the niyamavedi at three in the morning, after which abhishekam and nivedyam are offered to the deities. After this, nadaikkal para is offered to Paramekkavu Bhagavathi. Similar rituals happen in Thiruvambady, where usha siveli and uchcha siveli are carried out. At 7:30am, along with three elephants, the first big procession begins from Thiruvambady, as they move southwards along the the Shornur Road towards Naickanal. By 10am, the elephants of Thiruvambady arrive at Naduvil Matham, to mark the beginning of Mathathil Varavu. A series of rituals are carried out the sounds of the panchavadyam, which go on till noon. The elephants move out of the matham and join five other elephants of Thiruvambady in the Swaraj Round and by 2:45pm, the panchavadyam comes to an end. By the time the procession enters teh Thekkinkadu maidan, there are a total of 15 elephants.
In the meanwhile, at around 11:30am in Paramekkavu, the procession of Choorakode Sree Durga Bhagavathy begins and an hour later, to the tune of the chembada melam, the whole procession steps outside the temple. All the 15 elephants of the Paramekkavu side stand in a single file before the temple gates and Guruvayoor Nandan takes the thidambu over his head. There is a small glimpse of the kudamaatom here itself. At this point, chembada melam ends and pandi melam begins.
Musical soiree like none other
While the main temples in the Thrissur Pooram are Paramekkavu and Thiruvambady, Vadakkunathan is a significant witness. Legend has it that the deity you see today at Paramekkavu once resided under the Elanji tree in the precincts of the Vadakkunathan temple. To honour her previous residence, every year, elephants from Paramekkavu proceed towards the Vadakkunathan temple and at 2pm, the famous Elajithara melam begins.
Under the guidance of Kizhakoottu Aniyan Maarar, over 300 artistes perform this melam in what is an unbelievable extemporaneous performance that goes on for two-and-a-half hours!
After this, the elephants circumambulate the Vadakkunathan temple to the accompaniment of the tripuda melam and exit via the southern gate of the temple. The party keeps moving and crosses the Swaraj Round and stations itself near the statue of the Maharaja of Kochi near the Corporation Office Road.
As this happens, the elephants of Thiruvambady enter the Vadakkunathan temple through the western gate. As the leading tusker which holds the thidambu circumambulates the deity, the rest of the 14 elephants move towards the southern gate and finally, all 15 of them stand outside, face-to-face with the 15 elephants of the Paramekkavu side.
At 5.30pm, the famous kudamatton begins to the accompaniment of the panjari melam, which is played from the third kaalam to the fifth kaalam (tempo). The deeparadhana happens at 7pm at Paramekkavu.
Town stays alive
The 14 elephants of Thiruvambady, move to their base camp while the leading tusker moves to Pazhayanadakkavu as the strains of nadaswaram ring in the air, where Kani puja is performed. Thereafter, to the chants of vedic mantras, the elephant moves to the matham, where the thidambu is removed for a while at 7:45pm. Now the whole mathathil varavu ceremony is repeated at 11:30pm, which goes on till 02:00am.
At 11:00pm, the procession of seven elephants from the Paramekkavu side begins to the accompaiment of panchavadyam led by Chottanikkara Nandappan Marar and Kalamandalam Kutti Narayanan. This culminates at the Manikandan Aal around 02:30am. At 03:00am the fireworks begin, which go on till 06:00am.
The morning after
In the morning around 08:30, the procession of Thiruvambady begins to the sounds of the pandi melam with 15 elephants, where they move to the Sree moolasthanam of the Vadakkunathan temple. At the same time, the procession of Paramekkavu also joins them. At 12:30, the lead elephants from both sides bid farewell in what is known as upacharam chollal and fireworks follow. By 08:30pm, the kodi irakkal happens, whereby the flag that was hoisted on May 30, is brought down.
This story was published in the Thrissur Pooram special of The Times of India, Kochi
Madraswallah 
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