Kerala's cultural capital — Thrissur Pooram's 36-hour festival of 100 decorated elephants, competing percussion orchestras, and the most spectacular fireworks display in Asia, all converging at the Vadakkumnathan Temple
Thrissur (pop. 350,000) in central Kerala is the cultural and religious capital of the state — home to the Kerala Sangeetha Nadaka Academy, the state's premier classical arts institutions, and the site of Thrissur Pooram, described as the mother of all temple festivals in Kerala. The Pooram (held annually in April/May, on the Pooram asterism of the Malayalam month Medam) centers on the Vadakkumnathan Temple at the heart of Thrissur's circular maidan — a 36-hour festival in which two rival temple processions (Thiruvanchikulam and Paramekkavu) bring decorated elephants, percussion orchestras, a…
Thrissur was historically the capital of the Kingdom of Cochin — the oldest surviving Christian community in India (said to have been founded by the Apostle Thomas in 52 CE) existed in the Thrissur district, and the Cranganore (Kodungallur) port 25 km west of Thrissur was one of the most important spice-trade ports in Asia from the 1st century BCE through the Portuguese arrival in 1498. The Thrissur Pooram was established in its current form in 1798 by Sakthan Thampuran (Raja of Cochin), who combined two separate temple processions into a single coordinated festival and established the compet…