Thrissur Pooram
Traditional and popular parties · Thrissur (Kerala), India
The festival
He is called the mother of all the Poorams. In Thrissur, Kerala, for about 36 hours, the Thekkinkadu Maidanam that surrounds the Vadakkunnathan temple becomes a human sea: ten neighboring temples converge with their deities, carried by richly capasoned elephants, to greet Shiva.
Two camps face each other — Paramekkavu and Thiruvambadi — in a friendly and spectacular rivalry: the Kudamattam, a rhythmic exchange of colorful silk shades at the top of the elephants, the Ilanjithara Melam and its 250 percussionists, and then the fireworks of dawn. Set up under Sakthan Thampuran, the Pooram is held in the Malayalam month of Medam in April–May: it is the most colourful and spectacular of the Kerala temple festivals, according to Kerala Tourism.
Good to know
Existence verified at the official open and read source: page Thrissur Pooram of Kerala Tourism — Thekkinkadu Maidanam, month of Medam (April–May), assembly of the deities of the neighboring temples in front of Vadakkunnathan (Shiva), rivalry Paramekkavu / Thiruvambadi, Kudamattam and fireworks, introduction under Sakthan Thampuran. Lunar/calendar cases treated with caution: concordant secondary sources open (Kerala Folklore, Thrissur Festival Calendar) announce the main day 2027 to 17 April 2027, presented as confirmed by the Devaswomen of Paramekkavu and Thiruvambadi, while a panchang online diverges (14 May 2027) — unsettled divergence and date unread on an official page of the festival: standard dates maintained at "Ordinary period" April–May in accordance with the rule. Main Month 4 (April, occurrence 2026 April 26 and 2027 announced April).