Pooram Festival

Every temple in Kerala celebrates festive occasions with religious devotion and joy. One of the most important temples in Kerala is the Vadakkananthan Thrissur temple. The Thrissur Pooram festival or Temple Festival of the Vadakkananthan Temple, is the grandest Temple Festival in Kerala. Travel to Kerala to see the magnificent Thrissur Pooram Festival, on Kerala tour with Kerala Backwater, and see Kerala Pooram festival at its celebratory best Pooram in South India. See the rows of impressive elephants bearing idols of the gods on their backs, decorated with golden forehead ornaments and colorful parasols in Thrissur Kerala.

Held every year in the month of Medom according to the Malayam calendar, which corresponds to April-May, the Thrissur Temple Festival features rituals and prayers as well as a spectaulcr procession of grandly decorated elephants. Neighboring temples at Thiruvambadi and Paramekkavu compete with each other to display the most impressive tuskers, the best decorated elephants and the most impressive fireworks. Fifteen elephants from each temple line up in an impressive standoff, while accompanying drummers and musicians play their instruments in a religious frenzy.

Celebrations at the Thrissur Temple Festival Kerala

Started by Sakthan Thampuran, the Maharaja of the earlier state of Kochi state, the Thrissur Pooram Festival or Temple Festival at Thrissur has become an annual event on the tourist calendar of Kerala Pooram festival. The two competing temples display new decorations and parasols on the elephants each year and put up more spectacular fireworks in order to create a memorable temple festival. The temple festival begins early in the morning with the procession of the elephants and lasts through the day and into the night. The percussion drumming called Panchavadyam is another highlight of the temple festival, which concludes on the following morning. This spectacle is the end of an eight-day festival of nine temples in Thrissur

Nehru Trophy Boat Race

Nehru Trophy Boat Race, the annual water carnival at Punnamada Lake in Alappuzha is considered as the biggest snake boat race in the world. The colourful boat pageantry, which precedes the boat race, is a marvelous treat to the onlookers. The snake boats with 100 to 120 oarsmen plough the waters to the tune of the legendary songs. Jawaharlal Nehru who was enthralled by the charm and gaiety of the water carnival instituted the Nehru Trophy. This boat race attracts a large number of tourists. Nehru Trophy Boat Race is the most famous of the boat races of Kerala. This annual regatta is held on the Punnamada Backwaters of Alappuzha district on the second Saturday of August. The event is a commemoration of the visit to this place by the late Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, in 1952. The spectacular race features magnificent snake boats or 'Chundans'. The boisterous and rhythmic boat songs or Vanchipattu work the spectators to a state of frenzy.