TRIPUNITHURA: The Vrischikolsavam of the Sree Poornathrayeesa Temple here will reach a crescendo on Thursday with the Valiya Vilakku. Panchaari Melam will be presented in the morning siveli from 7.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m.
Valiya Vilakku will be the concluding session after the Ottanthullal. Vayalar Krishnankutty, Kalamandalam Prabhakaran and Sneha Sreekumar will present the Ottanthullal.
Vilakku, the night procession, will be the highlight of the day when thousands of oil lamps will be lit around the temple. After an elaborate Maddala Pattu, Kombu Pattu and Kurumkuzhal Pattu, Panchari Melam will be presented to mark the Valiya Vilakku.
Pallivetta, the most auspicious ritual in connection with the Valiya Vilakku, will be performed in the wee hours of Friday. The idol of Sree Poornathrayeesan will be taken out in a procession for hunting the evil spirits. Then the Thidambu will be brought back to the temple. A small silver cot will be ready at the Namaskaara Mandapam where the Thidambu will be placed with the concept that the presiding deity will sleep in the silver cot.
On Friday morning, the presiding deity will be woken up with the sound of conch.
The unique presentation of Panchari Melam, Atantha Melam and Chembada Melam by experts will be one of the highlights on Thursday.
"The special feature of the staging of the melam is the gettogether of scores of experts in each division like Chenda, Elathaalam, Kombu and Kurumkuzhal," Chenda maestro Peruvanam Kuttan, who leads the expert team of 120 artistes said.
"Normally, one can see any one of the four leading artistes in Kombu like Chengamanaattu Appu Nair, Unni, Machaattu Ramakrishnan or Kummathu Ramankutty in other temples. But, in Tripunithura, we can see all the four artistes together, Kuttan Marar said.
Similarly, in Kurumkuzhal, three leading artistes, Kodakara Sivaraman, Kombathu Anil and Velappaya Nandanan will jointly lead the team. In Elathaalam, Parambil Narayanan Nair with nearly 30 young artistes will control the basic rhythm, Kuttan Marar said.
The most attractive session of the melam is the Nadappura Kalaasam. This is the special presentation of the last two phases of Chembada Melam. Because of the unique structure of the Nadappura (the entrance hall), the resonance from Chenda, Elathaalam, Kombu, Kurumkuzhal and Valamthala will echo inside the Nadappura.
The first phase of the melam provides an indescribable elation through the controlled playing of the Elathaalam in two peculiar styles, Thariyittu Pidikkal and Koottipidikkal, in which the artistes create a shrill sound from the cymbals by rubbing their edges and also by playing in multiple forms of the basic rhythm.
Unni Marar
Pariyaarathu Unni Marar, 70, is an expert in Valamthala (the drum which keeps the basic rhythm in melam) He becomes dynamic while leading the 45 artistes playing Valamthala at Vrischikolsavam.
Pariyaarath Unni Marar (Narayanan) is the leading drummer of the Thrissur Pooram in the Paramekkavu section. He has been controlling the basic rhythm at the Kuttanelloor Panchari for the past one decade. "An artiste should have an extraordinary rhythmic sense while controlling the basic rhythm, especially in Panchari Melam," Peruvanam Kuttan Marar said.
Unni Marar has been leading the Valamthala players in the Vrischikolsavam for the past two years, and the bass sound from his chenda controls the entire melam in a unique style.
