Thrissur Pooram 2012

Arattupuzha Pooram 2012

Arattupuzha Temple

Located around 14 km from Thrissur, this temple is dedicated to Lord Ayyappa. It is a thousand years old temple, famous for its annual festival - Arattupuzha Pooram. Held in March - April, this is the oldest and the most spectacular of the Pooram festivals of Kerala. About forty one neighboring temples participate in this colorful festival. The highlight of the festival is the ceremonial procession of deities from these neighboring temples on caparisoned elephants. The temple is opened from 05:00 to 09:30 AM and 05:00 to 07:00 PM. Arattupuzha is a culturally significant village located in Thrissur district of Kerala. This village, about 15 km from the town of Thrissur is renowned for the annual festival called Arattupuzha Pooram. It is a festival that takes place with the Sree Sastha Temple, dedicated to Lord Ayyappa, as the nerve centre. It is believed that during the festival period, Lord Ayyappa, the presiding deity at the Sree Sastha Temple is visited by gods and goddesses of the neighbouring villages.

The annual festival at Arattupuzha is also termed as the mother of all pooram festivals in Kerala, due to its sheer magnitude and grandeur. The Sree Sastha Temple, which is believed to be more than 3000 years old, and its premises are the venue for the festivities.

Visitors from nearby and from far off places reach the village of Arattupuzha during the festival days, to be part of this grand festival. The pinnacle of excitement and devotion during the seven-day festival is obviously the last two days. The evening prior to the last day of the festival would have an assembly of caparisoned elephants and staging of percussion ensembles as part of the ceremony called Sasthavinte Melam.

The atmosphere during Sasthavinte Melam would have the brilliance of the many brightly lit traditional lamps and also the huge flame bearing staffs, locally called as theevetti. Once this ceremony is over, the elephants carrying deities of nearby temples would proceed to the adjoining paddy field for the grand spectacle that would have 61 elephants lined up amidst a cheering crowd. By early morning the venue would become electrifying with groups of traditional percussion ensembles comprising Panchavadyam, Pacharimelam and Pandimelam playing their best possible beats and rhythms, while the the caparisoned elephants bearing muthukkudas (sequined, glittering umbrellas) andvenchamarams (white whisks) make a delightful sight, they also stand patiently and entertain the crowd.

At sunrise, the elephants carrying deities from neighbouring temples that had gathered at the Sree Sastha Temple at Arattupuzha would proceed to the nearby river for theaarattu ceremony.

It is a ceremonial cleansing process by immersing the idol in the river water amidst chanting of mantras and floral offerings. The last two undergo the aarattu would be Lord Ayyappan, the presiding deity at Arattupuzha.

The Arattupuzha pooram is celebrated to mark the coming together of Gods and Goddesses and the festival is truly a crowd puller due to its elaborate proceedings and grandeur.

Thrissur Pooram Clebrating on 1st May 2012

Thrissur Pooram is the most spectacular and colourful festival of Kerala. 2012 pooram celebrating on May 1^st. The venue of the pooram is at Vadakkumnathan temple. The Thrissur pooram, is celebrated every year, on the pooram day, in the month of Medam (mid-april to mid-may) month as per the malayalam calendar. Sakthan Thampuran, the Maharaja of the erstwhile Cochin State in the late 18th century introduced this festival. Thrissur town plays host, for  long 36 hours of the pooram, to one of the most largest collection of people and fifty or more elephants. The ezhunnellippu programme, which is considered to be a ritual sybolising the visit of the Devi from the Paramekkavu and Thiruvambadi temples to the Vadakkunnathan temple. A major event of the Pooram festival is the Panchavadyam in which about 200 artistes from the disciplines of Thimila, Maddalam, Trumpet, Cymbal and Edakka participate. Another major event of the pooram begins with the setting off of the 'Pandemelam' at noon in which about 200 artistes in the disciplines of drum, trumpets, pipe and cymbal participate. The main features of the pooram festival are these decorated elephants with their nettipattam (decorative headdress), beautiful crafted umbrella, the kolam, decorative bells and ornaments, etc. Splendid caparisoned elephant procession, Kudamattom (umbrella showing competition), Elanjitharamelam (drum concerts), spectacular firework displays are the cynosure of Pooram that draws unbelievable number of people to the city. At 3' 0 Clock in the night spectacular display of fireworks begins. It lasts till 6' 0 clock in the morning and by afternoon the festival ends. Festival Started by Shakthan Thampuran

Sakthan Thampuran, the then ruler of Cochin, united the 10 temples situated around Vadakkunnathan Temple and organized the celebration of Thrissur Pooram. The celebrations last for over 36 hours and also include parasol displays and firework shows. The dazzling display of fireworks starts in the early hours and last for three to four hours.
The Ten participants of the Pooram are :

Thiruvambady Bhagavathi Temple

Paramekkavu Bhagavathi Temple

Kanimangalam Sastha Temple at Kanimangalam

Pookkattikkara - Karamukku Baghavathy Temple at Karamukku near Chiyyaram

                   

Choorakkottukavu Bagavathy Temple at Choorakkattukara

Laloor Baghavathy Temple at Laloor

       

Sree Karthyayani Temple at Ayyanthole

      

Nethilakkavu Bagavathy Temple at Neithilakkavu near Kuttoor

Chembukkavu Bagavathy Temple at Chembukkavu

               

Panamukkumpally Sastha Temple at Panamukkampilly near East Fort Thrissur

                            

Happy Independence day India

Rs 90000 Crore Gold Treasure found in Kerala Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple as on Sunday

Around 90,000 crore worth treasure (Nidhi) has been found in the secret cellars of the famous Kerala Temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu - Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram). The 7 member paper appointed by the Supreme Court of India, has been preparing the list of valuable found in the cellars of Sri Padmanabhaswami Temple. The temple has 6 Secret Cellars (Nilavara – a place to keep assets safe) from Cellar A to Cellar F. Opening of each of these chambers is revealing a virtual treasure trove with precious diamonds, golden ornaments, emeralds, jewelleries, rare antique silver and brass platters and golden idols. An estimation of above 90,000 crore treasure was valued at the completion of the 6th day of valuing the assets of Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.

Golden idol of Mahavishnu worth Rs. 500 Crore

The main treasure found on the 6th day was a one foot (12 angulams) height golden idol of Lord Mahavishnu and a 30 kg golden ‘anki’. This golden idol of Lord Vishnu is believed to be the replica of the ‘utsava vigraham' used in the temple. The golden idol of Padmanabhaswamy studded with more than 1000 previous stones is valued to around Rs. 500 Crore. Another golden idol of Lord Sree Krishna was also found which weighs around 5 kg.

Golden Coins, Ornaments, and Human figurine

Several golden coins were also unearthed yesterday which are believed to be issued during the reign of Krishnadeva Rayar in the 16th century AD. Numerous golden ornaments which were used to adorn the main deity were also found in the Vault marked A. Ornaments studded with emeralds were also found on Saturday. Numerous golden human figurine weighing 1 kg, golden bangles, golden rope, are other interesting treasure found in the Vishnu Temple.

Golden Coconut Shells

Another interesting finding was two coconut shells made of pure gold. One of this golden coconut shell was students with rare antique stones including emeralds and rubies.

Cellar B To Open on Monday

Cellar B is the remaining one secret vault which is yet to be inventoried. It is said that this cellar haven’t been opened for more than 100 years. The remaining articles in Cellar A will be inventoried on Monday afternoon and Cellar B will be opened only after that.

Investigators turn to final vault at Padmanabhaswamy temple

Investigators plan to pry open the final vault hidden deep under the centuries-old Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple as police guarded round the clock the shrine where billions of dollars worth of treasure has been discovered.

Over the last week a seven-member team of investigators has broken into five of the six secret subterranean vaults piled high with jewels that have lain untouched for hundreds of years.

Onlookers and devotees thronged the shrine in the bustling centre of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala, as officials said treasure worth more than USD 20 billion had been found -- more than India's education budget.

Sacks filled with diamonds were piled next to tonnes of gold coins and jewellery, media reported, in the vaults of the 16th century Hindu temple, the royal chapel of the former rulers of Travancore, now part of Kerala.

"The current market value of the articles found so far by the committee members would be roughly Rs 900 billion (USD 20.2 billion)," one temple official who was not authorised to speak to the media told Reuters.

Investigators searched the vaults to draw up an inventory of the riches because of worry about security but they had no idea of the amount of treasure they would find.

Estimates of the haul's worth range across billions of dollars, with investigators unwilling to disclose the official amount and the ambiguity involved in valuing the priceless jewels and gold coins by weight.

Police set up a dedicated control room close to the temple on Monday, as state Chief Minister Oommen Chandy pledged full state security for the hoard and promised it would remain the property of the temple after an inventory was made.

"We are ready to protect the temple wealth. We will chart out measures for the permanent security in consultation with the Travancore Royal family, which administers the temple now, and the chief priest of the temple", Chandy told reporters.

Historians supported the estimates of the treasure's value, noting the lucrative trade routes that passed through the region for many centuries.

"Traders, who used to come from other parts of the country and abroad for buying spices and other commodities, used to make handsome offerings to the deity for not only his blessings but also to please the then rulers", said P.J. Cherian, director of Kerala Council for Historic Research.

As estimates of the treasure's worth rise, a fierce debate is growing regarding what to do with the discovery, in a country where 450 million people live in poverty.

Leaders of the Hindu community want the wealth to be invested in the temple, while many intellectuals, including former Supreme Court judge Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer have suggested it should be used for the public good.

The government has said it would adhere to the Supreme Court's ruling on ownership of the treasure found in the temple, which is still controlled by the royal family unlike other temples in Kerala which are managed by the government.

The vaults were searched after a lawyer petitioned the country's top court to order the government to take over the temple as it did not have adequate security.

Several temples in India have billions of dollars worth of wealth as devotees donate gold and other precious objects as gifts to spiritual or religious institutions that run hospitals, schools and colleges.

The Tirumala temple in Andhra Pradesh is reported to have 3,000 kg (6,600 lb) of gold, a third of which it deposited with the State Bank of India last year, while spiritual guru Sai Baba, who died in April, left behind an estimated USD 9 billion estate.

Yoga guru Baba Ramdev, who staged a fast against corruption last month that lead to protests against the government, has built a USD 40 million-a-year global empire through yoga and various spiritual products and services. ($1 = 44.630 rupees)