Kochi, March 28
The world renowned temple festival of Kerala, Thrissur Pooram this year will not be so grand and vibrant as it has been since its past. This colourful temple festival is known to be one of the most traditional and famous festivals in this God’s Own Country. The main charm of the festival has always been the brigade of caparisoned elephants which will not take part in the festivity this year.
This shocking decision came out after the Kerala High court ordered a ban over the parading of elephants during ‘Thrissur Pooram’. It was learnt that one of the animal right group appealed for a ban of parading the elephant after the tragic incident of jumbo running amok occurred during the festival last year. Acting to this plea the court ordered a ban, shattering all preparations with only 20 day to go for the festival.
Thrissur Pooram has gained a huge recognition as an elephant festival with the tradition of so many caparisoned elephants as part of the festivity. The court also upheld the earlier ban on parading elephants between 1100 hrs and 1400 hrs (IST) during the festival. The main attraction of Thrissur pooram has been its beautifully decorated elephants, which attracted huge numbers of spectators. But this announcement came as a shocker for the devaswom authorities who think it will ruin the whole traditions of the festivals at large.
It was also known that the festival authorities are now seeking intervention from the government in this regard. But it seems that Thrissur Pooram is slowly loosing its colour, earlier it was the ban on high-intensity crackers and now it’s the jumbos turn. So all these factors are some how making the festivity a bit dull.
