THRISSUR: Fireworks display at the famous Thrissur Pooram (festival) was delayed for several hours due to protest and stalling of certain ceremonies by one of the temple administration-Thiruvambady Devaswom-citing lack of cooperation from the police department.
The renowned fireworks started finally around 7.00 am in the morning after several rounds of discussions.
At around 1.30 am on Saturday, Thiruvambady devaswom suddenly stopped the illumination of Panthal at Naikkanal and ended the Panchavadyam of Madathil Varavu at night.
"The stand taken by the police department has been troubling us and it reached a stage where organizing pooram became difficult. Though we had explained our concerns multiple times during meetings, it seems no one cared and hence we had to take such a decision," shared Thiruvambady Devaswom president Sundar Menon.
It is the first time in the history of Thrissur pooram, devaswom stop the traditional ceremonies.
Police restrictions have been receiving severe criticism from the part of pooram organizers and festival fans. It is alleged that police allowed only 175 people in the Swaraj Round during the fireworks display, which was impractical for devaswoms as hundreds of people has volunteered to organize pooram and they should be allowed to watch the same.
As the protests continued, Revenue Minister K. Rajan and District Collector V. R. Krishna Teja intervened and held discussions with the devaswom authorities.