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Trichur Pooram: Elephant Festival in Kerala
| Article
# : |
20182 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
Date : |
1 / 1992 |
2,428 Words |
| Author
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Lalit Gambhir
Lalit Gambhir is a free-lance photojournalist affiliated with
The World & I Photo Agency. Based in New Delhi, he engaged in
field research in Manipur during September and October 1990. |
Throughout the year Keralans visit their gods, housed in the many temples scattered across the state. But each January, on the day of Trichur Pooram (a temple festival held in celebration of the birthday of a local god), it is the gods who come to see their devotees. In Kerala it is said, "If one has not seen Trichur Pooram, one has seen nothing in life."
According to belief, nine gods--one god and eight goddesses, to be precise--all of whom reside within six kilometers of Trichur, emerge from their sacrosanct bodies and indulge in twenty-four hours of festivity. Richly decorated elephants serve as their vehicles and carry statues of the gods. It is believed that the gods enjoy this divine sight-seeing spree even more than the onlooking human crowds. The elephants are formed into camps, rallying under the flag of either of Trichur's two major temples. But what makes the festival so spectacular is the massive presence and rich decoration of the hundred or more participating elephants.
Sugata Kumari, a prominent Keralan social activist, describes the festival: "Trichur Pooram is a magnificent festival very important for Kerala. In its own special way, it is without parallel in the world."
However, in recent years the festival has been overexploited for the benefit of tourism, and many object to the treatment of the elephants. Over the last four years, fourteen tuskers have been killed during the course of their training. Kumari's anguish is evident in her voice: "I hate these kinds of Gaja Melas (elephant festivals) . . . the cruelty these poor creatures are subjected to . . . all for the fun of it."
Kerala and elephants
Trichur is a small city located in the western part of Kerala, India's smallest but most densely populated state. Kerala lies in the far southwestern corner of the country, a long, crescent-shaped land squeezed between the mountain range of the Western Ghats and the beaches of the Arabian Sea. The mountains separate Kerala from the rest of India, and the state has developed a unique cosmopolitan cultural pattern, in relative freedom and near isolation from the rest of the country.
Kerala's natural resources of teak, rosewood, ebony, pepper, and spices have attracted visitors from the world over since before the Christian era. That history of interaction with the world has contributed greatly to Kerala's multicultural
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