Kerala’s biggest temple festival Thrissur Pooram, which was cancelled for the first time in 58 years in 2020 due to the pandemic, may be held this year. Following a meeting held with various stakeholders, Thrissur District Collector S Shanavas said on Friday that state government’s permission will be sought for conducting the festival. A detailed plan on how the festival could be conducted with restrictions will be submitted to the state government, the DC said.
Thrissur Pooram, which usually witnesses a crowd of tens of thousands of people, was cancelled last year due to COVID-19 pandemic. The last time that the festival was conducted as a ritual-only event was in 1962, due to the Indo-China war.
On Friday, the core committee of the Thrissur Pooram’s coordinators held a meeting with the DC in the district collectorate. He has said that the government will be given a report on how all rituals of the Pooram can be held with minimal people’s participation. The report will also include details on elephant participation, fireworks, and the the demands of the Thiruvambadu and Paramekkavu Devaswom boards.
A meeting will be held on March 9 in the Collectorate to decide how many elephants and people could participate in smaller Poorams associated with the festival. The Collector has made clear that a decision on the number of people’s participation will be decided as per the recommendations of the Health Department and Police. The report of Animal Husbandry officials and Wildlife Department will be sought to assess how many elephants should be made to participate in the festival.
Notably, District Medical Officer Dr J Reena, who took part in the meeting, said that there are chances of increase in COVID-19 cases if large crowds assemble for the festival. Thrissur City Police Commissioner Aadhithya R also pointed out that it will be difficult to control crowds if people throng to the place like in earlier years.
Meanwhile, both the Devaswom boards intimated that all rituals associated with Pooram should be held without fail, but are willing to reduce the number of people who can participate in the festival. The Collector’s report that is to be sent to the state government will consider all the concerns and demands of the stakeholders.