Thrissur Pooram Hour by Hour, From Morning Elephants to Dawn Fireworks

Thrissur Pooram is often described as a day long festival, which is why people turn up in the morning, stand for six hours and leave before the parts they came for. The main day runs longer than a day, and the pieces are not evenly spread.

Here is the shape of Thrissur Pooram hour by hour. It starts before dawn with small temples arriving at Vadakkunnathan, builds through an afternoon of drumming, peaks with the umbrella exchange in the late afternoon and evening, and ends with fireworks in the dark hours before the next morning. There is a second, smaller round the following day. You can eat and sleep between the peaks if you know where the gaps are.

The ground

Everything happens on and around Thekkinkadu Maidan, the raised ground at the centre of Thrissur that holds the Vadakkunnathan temple, ringed by Swaraj Round. Two temples lead the festival, and Paramekkavu and Thiruvambady spend the day answering each other, with eight smaller temples taking part.

The main day, in order

Early morning: the small temples arrive

The first movement of the day belongs to the smaller participating temples, which come in one at a time with their own elephants and drummers to pay respects at Vadakkunnathan. Kanimangalam Sastha is traditionally the first to arrive.

This is the calmest and most watchable stretch of the whole festival. Small crowds, room to stand, and you can actually see the elephants and hear individual drums. If you only have a few hours in Thrissur, this is an underrated window.

Late morning: Madathil Varavu

Thiruvambady's panchavadyam procession, the Madathil Varavu, moves with a large ensemble of drums, cymbals, horns and conch. Panchavadyam has a rising structure: it starts slow and wide and tightens over a long stretch until the whole ensemble is playing fast together.

If you have never heard it, stand still for the climb rather than walking past. It only makes sense across its full length.

Afternoon: Ilanjithara Melam

The Ilanjithara Melam takes place under the ilanji tree inside the Vadakkunnathan compound. It is a pandi melam, a percussion form led by a chenda master, played by a very large ensemble for several hours.

It is the section that serious listeners come for. The crowd inside the compound packs tight and stays. If you want a place, arrive well before it starts, and understand that leaving the middle of it is difficult.

This is also the last comfortable moment to eat before the evening.

Late afternoon into evening: the Kudamattam

The two sides bring their elephant rows out to face each other in front of the southern side of the temple, and the umbrella exchange begins. Decorated umbrellas are swapped in sequence on top of the elephants, each set answered by the other side, while the crowd reacts to each change.

This is the image most people know from photographs and the most crowded part of the day, so it is worth working out where to stand hours in advance.

Night and the hours before dawn

After the umbrella exchange the ground thins somewhat, elephants and processions continue, and the crowd regathers later for the main fireworks display, which runs in the dark hours well after midnight.

The gap between the two is the real chance to sleep or eat if you have a room nearby. It is also the point at which most first time visitors go home and later regret it.

The next day

The festival does not end at dawn. There is a further round the following day, and the two sides finally take leave of each other in a farewell at the end. There is also a closing fireworks display.

When you can leave

• Leave after the small temple arrivals if you want a short, gentle visit.
• Leave after Ilanjithara Melam if you came for the music.
• Leave after Kudamattam if you came for the spectacle and cannot manage a night.
• Stay through to the fireworks if you came for the whole thing, and plan to be awake for most of two days.

About the printed times

Every segment has an announced time, and every segment runs to its own pace on the day. Treat the schedule as an order of events rather than a clock, and add margin in both directions. Confirm the current year's programme with the temples or the organising committee.

Finding a reliable schedule at all is part of the problem, and it is the gap EventifyPlus works on in Kerala: hyperlocal event discovery covering temple festivals, Onam, Thrissur Pooram, Kathakali and Theyyam, boat races and the Kochi carnivals, built for people looking for what is on and for organisers who otherwise depend on word of mouth. Other services operate here too, so cross check before you travel.