The sound of trumpets and trolling of bells were everywhere. The entire city smelt of elephants. One could find elephants on every streets.
More than 70 elephants, that too the most sought-after ones, featured in various ceremonies during Thrissur Pooram this year. They made their way through milling crowds to the accompaniment of percussion ensembles.
The Kudamattom, in which 30 elephants - 15 each for Paramekkavu and Thiruvambadi Devaswoms - were lined up in all their regalia, was the highlight.
Decorated umbrellas, snow-white ‘venchamarams’ and peacock-feather ‘alavattoms’ created a vibrant backdrop to their mighty presence.
Elephants have become integral part of celebrations in the State. And elephant owners consider it an honour to parade their elephants at the pooram.
Love for elephants rooted in history
Thrissur’s love for elephants is legendary. Devaswoms compete with each other to present the most majestic elephants.
All the main elephants enjoy huge fan following. Even children here know the minute details of elephants such as their food habits, length of trunk, colour of tusk, and their behaviour. Elephant lovers here are still not out of the shock and pain of the unexpected death of legendary elephant Thiruvambadi Sivasundar, known as ‘king of beauty’. The void created in their hearts with the death of Sivasundar, which carried the idol of Thiruvambadi Bhagavathy for the last 15 poorams, cannot be filled that easily. Thiruvamabdi paid homage to him by making special parasols in his shape.
In his absence, Thiruvambadi Chandrasekharan is carrying the idol. Fondly called as Chandru, the 40-year-old elephant used to be the Koottana ( the one who stand on the side of the main elephant) of Thiruvambadi Sivasundar. An elephant of Bihari origin, Chandrasekharan was born in a circus camp. He became Thiruvambadi Chandrasekharan, when he was offered to the Thiruvambadi temple by Gopi Warrier in 2007.
Though Paramekkavu Sree Padmanabhan was assigned to carry the idol of Paramekkavu Bhagavathy for this pooram, he was changed in the last minute after he became restive on the festival eve. Guruvayur Nandan carried the idol of Paramekkavu Bhagavathy for the Ezhunnellippu.
Thechikottukavu Ramachandran is another legend. The half-blind elephant is another celebrity that has a huge fan following in spite of its violent history of killing 11 people and three elephants.
A 42-member team of veterinary doctors has tested the jumbos for their fitness this year.
