Thrissur Pooram: More foreigners witness spectacle

Thrissur: Despite the uncertainty that prevailed over its conduct for a few days after the Kollam firework tragedy and the hot and humid conditions of the summer, Thrissur Pooram on Sunday witnessed a large inflow of foreign tourists.   

The Thrissur District Tourism Promotion Council (TDTPC) sources said about 300 passes were issued to foreign nationals, mainly from the USA and Europe, to ensure seats in the Pooram pavilion arranged for the foreign tourists and VIPs at Thekkinkkadu Maidan around Sree Vadakkunnathan temple last year.

“The number has definitely gone up this year,” the sources said. Several foreign nationals also arrived at the Thekkinkkadu Maidan to take part in pooram festivities without registering with the TDTPC, they said. Organisers said this was the first Pooram after the 1400-years old Vadakkunnatha temple and the annual spectacle getting UNESCO’s Asia Pacific Award of Excellence for the Cultural Heritage Conservation in December last. “This was a reason for the increase in the number of foreign nationals at the Pooram,” they said.

Most of the major events of Pooram including “Ilanjithara Melam,” the “great symphony” on traditional Kerala percussion instruments, are held at Sree Vadakkunnathan temple, situated in 18 acres of land in the heart of the Thrissur town and in the Thekkinkkadu maidan outside the temple situated in a
sprawling 65-acres.