Pooram Pictures - 4: Decorated Pooram Pandals...

During Pooram festival, the streets would be decorated and you could see big pandals lit with beautiful lights...
This next Pooram picture shows you one such Pooram Pandal

Hope you like the pictures that I'm posting of Pooram. Looking forward to see your comments about these pictures...

Pooram Festival Pictures - 3: Kudamattam on caparisoned elephants...

One of the main attractions of any Pooram festival is the Kuda mattam (or koda mattam) which is, in simple terms, changing of colorful umbrellas performed over heavily caparisoned (decorated) elephants.
Here in this picture you could see the people sitting over the elephants performing the kuda mattam ceremony during Thalappoli in Thiruvilwamala (Thrissur Dt.)

I'll try to put some videos of the kuda mattam too....

Pooram Festival Pictures - 2: Elephants @ Thalapoli

Thalapoli (or Thalappoli) Pooram festival is celebrated in Thiruvilwamala (a small town in Thrissur dt). It is celebrated the Sunday after the great Thrissur Pooram is celebrated.
It is a festival celebrated for the Parakkotu kavu temple housing Goddess Bhagavathi(or Durga mata as known by many).

Here you can see the Goddess Bhagavati devi being carried by the elephant during the procession towards the temple for the Pooram festival.

Pooram Festival Pictures - 1: Elephants @ Thalapoli

Pooram festivals are very famous temple festivals celebrated every year mostly in the Northern parts of Kerala.
The highlights of Pooram festivals are highly decorated elephants procession to the temple, the fire crackers, Panchavadyam and many other performances by local artists.

One such Pooram festival is "Thalapoli" celebrated in my native town of Thiruvilwamala every year just one week after Thrissur Pooram.

Here is a picture taken this year at the Thalapoli pooram festival in Thiruvilwamala.

These elephants are being paraded towards the Parakkotu Kavu Bhagavati temple...
Watch out this space for more pictures of Pooram festivals...