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Kerala Tourism presents Arattupuzha Pooram

Video production & webcast - Invis Multimedia

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Kootiyezhunnallippu – 08

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Festival celebrations prior to Arattupuzha Pooram - 03

M.L. Vanajakshy, Member, Cochin Devaswom Borard

N. Sukumaran, Special Devaswom Comissioner

K. Kuttappan, Member, Cochin Devaswom Board

K. Ramakrishnan, Devaswom Officer, Arattupuzha

E.P Damodaran Namboothiri, Chief priest, Arattupuzha

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Festival celebrations prior to Arattupuzha Pooram - 01

At Nilapaduthara - 12

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Procession to Ezhukandom - 2

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Sasthavinte Melam & Fireworks

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Festival message - M.C.S. Menon, President, Cochin Devaswom Board

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Festival message - Korambath Gopinathan, President, Peruvanam Samskrithi Kshethram

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Festival message - Padma Shri Peruvanam Kuttan Marar

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Lord Sastha arrives -- Arattupuzha Pooram 001

Festival message - K P C Narayanan Bhattathiripad, Thanthri

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Festival message - M. Rajendran, President, Advisory Committee of Arattupuzha Temple

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Festival message - M. Sivasankar IAS, Director, Kerala Tourism

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Festival message - Dr. Venu V. IAS, Secretary, Kerala Tourism

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We welcome you to witness the grandeur of Kerala's pooram festivals. Here we present you the live webcast of Arattupuzha Pooram, a 1428-year-old temple festival featuring grand elephant pageantry, traditional percussion ensembles, colourful processions and special rituals. You can also visit the video gallery, which has exclusive visuals on the various rituals and festivities in connection with the event.

Arattupuzha

Pooram Day festivities

The Temple
The Festival
Participating temples
Getting there

Lord Sastha arrives
Procession to Ezhukandom
At Nilapaduthara
Devamela
Arattu
Ocharam
Gramabali

Picture Gallery

The Temple

Arattupuzha temple, dedicated to Lord Sastha, has an antiquity of over 3,000 years. The temple is a rare one in the state for it has no deity other than Lord Sastha.

The Arattupuzha temple is an imposing structure built in traditional Kerala architectural style. It had a glorious past in which the 'devamela' as part of the annual festival celebrations was participated in by 108 temples. Even today, the 'devamela' held here, attended by 23 temples, is the largest ritual of its kind in the state.

The Festival

Arattupuzha Pooram, the annual festival of Lord Sastha temple, is a seven-day event featuring special rituals, elephant pageantry, colourful processions and traditional percussion ensembles.

The festival begins with 'kodiyettu' or the ritualistic hoisting of the festival flag on the first day. Though the festival is a seven-day event, the concluding day featuring grand celebrations and rituals is referred to as the pooram day. The main part of the festival rituals begin in the evening of the seventh day and lasts till next evening.

The festival is unique in many ways. It features the largest elephant pageantry among the temple festivals in the country. Also the 'devamela' or the divine gathering of deities held on the concluding day of the festival is attended by 23 deities, the largest ritual of its kind in the state. The festival, long ago, was a much more grand affair with 108 deities participating in the 'devamela'.

Participating temples

Besides Lord Sastha of Arattupuzha temple, deities of 22 temples attend the 'devamela' or the divine gathering held on the concluding day of the festival.

These deities are Thriprayar Thevar, Oorakathammathiruvadi, Cherppil Bhagavathi, Chathakkudam Sastha, Anthikad Bhagavathi, Thottippal Bhagavathi, Pisharikkal Bhagavathi, Edakkunny Bhagavathi, Ayyunnil Bhagavathi, Thaikkattusserry Bhagavathi, Kaduppasserry Bhagavathi, Choorakod Bhagavathi, Poonilarkavu Bhagavathi, Kattupisharikkal Bhagavathi, Chakkamkulangara Sastha, Kodannur Sastha, Nangulam Sastha, Sreemattil Sastha, Nettisserry Sastha, Kalleli Sastha, Chittichathakudam Sastha and Medamkulam Sastha.

The deities are taken out to the festival venue in separate colourful processions featuring caparisoned elephants and traditional festival orchestras.

Location

Arattupuzha is in the Thrissur district of Kerala. Thrissur is well connected by road and rail networks. Arattupuzha temple is about 17 km from Thrissur town.

Getting there:

Nearest railway station: Thrissur, about 14 km away.
Nearest airport: Cochin International Airport, about 58 km from Thrissur.

Lord Sastha arrives

The grand festival evening begins with the ceremonial function in which Lord Sastha arrives in all his glory to host the 'devamela' or the divine gathering of gods. Thousands of devotees swarm the temple premises to watch the rituals, which begin with the taking out of the festival idol of Lord Sastha in a grand procession featuring 15 caparisoned elephants. Pancharimelam, the traditional percussion ensemble, performed by master practitioners, adds charm to the festive mood. After Pancharimelam, which delights the audience in five stages of rhythmic beats, it's time for a spectacular fireworks display.

Procession to Ezhukandom

The next ritual is the God setting out to the nearby place, Ezhukandom, to see whether Lord Thriprayar Thevar has reached the place called Kaithavalappu. Lord Thriprayar Thevar, the presiding deity of Thriprayar temple, is a participant in the 'devamela'. This ritual in which the festival idol of Lord Sastha is taken out atop a caparisoned elephant, accompanied by other tuskers, in the light of oil-lit torches, is a visual delight.

In the return journey, Lord Sastha halts at Nilapaduthara, where poorams of the arriving deities are held, for some time. Later he returns to the temple after assigning Chathakkudam Sastha to oversee the events on his behalf.

At Nilapaduthara

Lord Sastha again arrives at Nilapaduthara to attend the poorams of the arriving deities. These poorams last till the arrival of Lord Thriprayar Thevar at Kaithavalappu.

The first to arrive at Nilapaduthara are Goddess Thottippal Bhagavathi and Lord Chathakkudam Sastha in a procession featuring seven caparisoned elephants, which will be followed by Pancharimelam, the traditional percussion ensemble. Then arrive Goddesses Poonilarkavu Bhagavathi, Kaduppasserry Bhagavathi and Pisharikkal Bhagavathi in a procession featuring five caparisoned elephants and Pancharimelam.

Next arrives Goddess Edakkunny Bhagavathi in a procession featuring five caparisoned elephants and Pancharimelam. It will be followed by the arrival of Goddesses Anthikad Bhagavathi and Choorakod Bhagavathi in a procession featuring six caparisoned elephants and Pancharimelam.

The festivities reach an upbeat mood with the arrival of Lord Nettisserry Sastha in a procession featuring five caparisoned elephants and Pandimelam, another type of traditional percussion ensemble.

Devamela

Kootiyezhunnallippu is the most important ritual as part of devamela, the divine gathering of gods. It begins with the arrival of Lord Thriprayar Thevar at the nearby Kaithavalappu. Lord Thriprayar Thevar arrives in a majestic procession featuring 11 caparisoned elephants and Panchavadyam, another traditional percussion ensemble of five instruments including a horn. A grander event which follows the arrival is marked by 21 caparisoned elephants and Pandimelam, the traditional percussion orchestra.

Now it's time for the most spectacular moments of the festival. 71 caparisoned elephants are lined up on the ground in the backdrop of traditional percussion ensembles. Thousands of devotees who have gathered at the venue witness the most divine moments in their life.

Arattu

Arattu, the ritualistic bath of the deity, is one of the concluding rituals of temple festivals in Kerala.

The arattu ritual of Arattupuzha Pooram is a grand ceremony. The arattu is performed at Mandaram Kadavu, a bathing ghat on the nearby Karuvannur river, in the next morning of Pooram day. According to the local belief, Goddess Ganga is present at Madaram Kadavu from the midnight of the Pooram day.

Ocharam

The arattu will be followed by the Ocharam ritual in which host Lord Sastha pays felicitation to the gods who have attended the devamela. The Lord also accompanies them till the nearby Ezhukandom. During this ritual, the representative of the Temple Devaswom announces the date of next year's pooram.

Gramabali

The pooram concludes with Gramabali, a ceremonious procession of Lord Sastha through His village. Devotees welcome the god with 'nirapara and nilavilakku' which consists of a measuring vessel heaped with paddy and also a lighted wick lamp,on either sides of the pathway. After Gramabali, the 'kodikuthu' ceremony is held marking the conclusion of the festival.

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Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala, Park View, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India - 695 033 Phone: +91 471 2321132 Fax: +91 471 2322279.	Tourist Information toll free No:1-800-425-4747 Email: info@keralatourism.org, deptour@keralatourism.org	All rights reserved © Kerala Tourism 2012. Copyright Terms of Use Developed & Maintained by Invis Multimedia