The festivities include participation of caparisoned elephants, a midnight fireworks display, parasol exchanges and drum concerts.
The festival is a heady mixture of pomp and pageantry, and is celebrated every year in the month of 'Medam' (mid–April to mid–May) as per the Malayalam calendar. It was introduced by King Sakthan Thampuran of the erstwhile Kochi state in the late 18th century.
A large number of foreign tourists were also watching patiently various events unfolding in the 36-hour-long festival.
The participating temples include the Vadakunnathan temple, the Krishna temple at Thiruvambadi, and the Devi temple at Paramekkavu. The festival is being held at the sprawling Thekkinkadu Maidan, a major venue of Thrissur Pooram.
A significant feature of the Pooram festival is the participation of a cross section of people and elephants. The pachyderms emerge out in all their regalia with newly-fabricated caparisons.
The exhibition of the paraphernalia of elephant decorative, commonly known as 'Aana Chamayal pradarsanam,' the spectacular show of 'Kudamattom' in which parasols of myriad numbers, designs and colors are exchanged by the people atop the 30 elephants.
Another event is the Panchavadyam in which about 200 artistes from the disciplines of thimila, maddalam, trumpet, cymbal and edakka participate. Then there is the Pandemelam where another 200 artistes in the disciplines of drum, trumpets, pipe and cymbal participate.
Police have made elaborate security arrangements for successful conduct of the event.
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