THRISSUR: Thrissur Pooram lovers world over wait for a year for the return of their adrenalin-filled festivities of rhythm, colour and fireworks. But on Saturday, Thekkinkad Maidan, the centre of all the hyper activities, wore a deserted look after pooram was relegated to rituals inside the temple following the nationwide lockdown due to Covid-19 pandemic. Reminiscing about the glory days, pooram lovers and elephant fans took to the social media to share photos and memories of the colourful past. While some wrote poems, singing paeans to the grandeur of the festivities, others filled the posts with memes, awaking the creativity bones in people made to stay indoors.
While journalists shared the busy reporting hours of Thrissur pooram, percussion artists retold stories of melam performance from the years past. Peruvanam Kuttan Marar, the master chenda artist who has been leading the ilenjithara melam at the pooram since 1999, said missing the festivities was most upsetting for the percussion artists.
“It is an emotion that remains close to our heart. Ilanjithara melam (the percussion ensemble played under the ilanji tree on the courtyard of the Vadakkumnath temple), is considered the pride among all melams. Drumming for four-and-a-half hours at a stretch is a unique experience. Now, all we can do is to wait for the next year’s pooram,” said Marar who has been performing at the temple for the past 40 years. Not just the Thrissur Pooram, percussion artists who make a living out of festival season missed almost all the major programmes including Guruvayur utsavam, and poorams at Arattupuzha, Peruvanam and Irinjalakkuda due to the coronavirus outbreak.
While social media users utilised the situation to express their love for pooram through memes, some wrote long nostalgia posts about their experience of participating in the festival. When Thrissur witnessed heavy rain on the day of pooram flag hoisting, social media users called it the tears of Thrissurites who missed the pooram this year. Abhijith Raj Chettikkulangara recreated kudamattam on a leaf to remind everyone of the splendour of the function.
Chandran Minaloor, who undertakes pandal work, recreated the pooram memories by making a miniature poorappandal. On Saturday, the pooram day, both Paramekkavu and Thiruvambady temples followed the main rituals that includes usha pooja, ucha pooja, arattu and sreebhoothabali. Devotees jojned in through e-offerings. No special rituals were held at the other eight participating temples.