Pardon this digression. The whole of Kerala is in a holiday, festive mood !

Now you can watch Trichur Pooram Live at http://www.keralaheritages.com
The constellation of Delta Leonis is known as Pubba or Pooram, one of the 27
constellations which tenant the Ecliptic. There are more than one million
temples in Kerala. Several temple festivals occur on the Lunar Asterism of
their inception.

The famous Trichur Pooram occurs on the Pubba day of Mesha or Delta Leonis
in the sidereal month of Aries. More than 500,000 people witness this
Festival of all Festivals. It is of 36 hours duration and it is one of the
most beautiful sights in the world, according to UNESCO.

More than 50 caparisoned elephants pass through the center of Trichur Town ,
the Lord Shiva Temple.

Earlier the Pooram was at Arattupuzha and it so happened that the Chief of
Peruvanam Gramam denied entry to the temples of Trichur. This enraged the
Naduvazhis of Trichur and the then ruler, Shaktan Tampuran, integrated all
the ten temples around the central Lord Shiva Temple, Vadakkunnathan (
situated at a hillock ) and created this Grand Pooram. Tampuran created
two Groups, the Eastern and the Western. The Eastern group was called as
Paramekkavu, consisting in addition to Paramekkavu temple, Karamukku,
Chembukavu, Choorakottukavu and Panamukkamppilly. The Western group was
Thiruvambady consisting of Kanimangalam, Laloor, Ayyanthole, Nethilakkavu
and the Thiruvambady temple.

This Pooram is centered around the Lord Shiva temple at the Center, as all
the ten deities pay obeisance to the Shiva, the central presiding deity.
Shaktan Tampuran chalked out the program and the main events of this
Glorious Festival. In Kudamattom, that is changing of colored umbrellas this
year, techonology was used. LED umbrellas were used and it was a glorious
sight at seven pm. 15 caparisoned elephants of the Eastern Group faced the
15 elephants of the Western Group.

The Ten Participating Temples

Along with the main Paramekkavu Temple
& Thiruvambady Temple in Trichur
Kanimangalam Sastha Temple at Kanimangalam, Pookkattikkara
Karamukku Bhaghavathy Temple at Karamukku near Chiyyaram,
Choorakkottukavu Bhagavathy Temple at Choorakkattukara,
Laloor Bhaghavathy Temple at Laloor,
Sree Karthyayani Temple at Ayyanthole,
Nethilakkavu Bhagavathy Temple at Neithilakkavu near Kuttoor,
Chembukkavu Bhagavathy Temple at Chembukkavu and
Panamukkumpally Sastha Temple at Panamukkampilly near East Fort Thrissur