THRISSUR: Amid the nationwide vigil against Covid-19, Paramekkavu Devaswom here sought permission from the Thrissur district collector for parading one elephant on the day of Thrissur Pooram on Saturday. However, District Collector S Shanavas on Thursday denied permission, saying it would be a violation of the lockdown norms, and urged the temple authorities to stick to the protocol. G Rajesh, secretary of Paramekkavu Devaswom, said, “When it comes to Pooram, one of the main rituals is the coming out of Bhagavathy on an elephant for Ilanjithara Melam.
The temple wanted to conduct the ritual, but the district administration has denied permission. We don’t want to violate any protocol and all rituals will only be conducted abiding by it.” Thiruvambady Devaswom, another main participant in the festival, however, said the temple would only stick to the tantric rituals inside the temple and was not planning the elephant parade or anything else on the day of Pooram.
“Since the participating temple didn’t even conduct the flag hoisting, there is no purpose in taking out the idol on the day of Pooram and the crucial meeting of Paramekkavu Bhagavathy and Thiruvambady Bhagavathy will not be held,” said Thiruvambady Devaswom joint secretary M Ravikumar.
The legend of Ilanjithara percussion
It is believed that Thirumandhamkunnilamma was first present as a power under the Ilanji tree inside Vadakkumnathan temple premises and later the deity was shifted to the present Paramekkavu temple. Thus, Ilanjithara is considered the ‘Sreemoolasthanam’ of Paramekkavu Bhagavathy and the melam was conducted on Thrissur Pooram as a dedication to the deity. Paramekkavu Devaswom had thus sought permission for taking the idol of Bhagavathy on an elephant accompanied by not more than 10 percussion artists to conduct the main ritual of pooram.