THRISSUR: On the eve of Thrissur Pooram, tusker Ernakulam Sivakumar made the Pooram proclamation by opening the south tower gate of Vadakkunnathan temple on Thursday morning in a low-key function held adhering to the COVID-19 protocol.
The Thrissur Pooram will be held at 5.30 pm on Friday. Paramekkavu Devaswom will parade 15 elephants while Thiruvambadi will have only one elephant, as per the toned down programme due to the COVID surge.
Proclaiming the Pooram, tusker Ernakulam Sivakumar carrying the idol of Neythalakkavu Bhagavathi opened Thekke Gopura Nada (south tower gate) of the Vadakkunathan temple, strictly complying with the COVID protocol. With the Pooram proclamation, the ceremonies that last more than 30 hours began.
Usually, thousands of people witness the Pooram proclamation ceremony, especially with the presence of celebrity tusker Thechikottukavu Ramachandran. But, this time due to the COVID second wave, the ceremonies are restricted to rituals.
On Thursday, entry to Thekkinkadu Maidan was restricted to only those who carried the pass issued by Thrissur city police. Devaswom officials and media were only given the pass after they produced either their vaccination certificate or COVID negative certificate through the RTPCR test.
The participating deities of the Pooram were busy with 'Irakkipooja' visits to temples and Illams on the day. The main Pooram will happen on Friday and the 30-hour ceremonies will reach their peak with a major fireworks display in the wee hours on Saturday.
Owing to the COVID-19 protocol, all the ceremonies would be in a miniature version as the number of elephants and percussion instruments would be fewer in number.