Thrissur Pooram and jumbo love

Will he? Won’t he?

Festivals remain popular and stay relevant when they don’t try too hard to reinvent themselves as something else, say, a youthquake. Nothing much has changed in the over two centuries of the Thrissur Pooram: a throbbing, vibrant face-off between two ancient temples, Thiruvambadi and Paramekkavu, in addition to eight smaller ones. Everyone assembles at the Thekkinkadu Maidan, a 65-acre park in the centre of Thrissur town with the iconic Vadakkumnathan temple sitting atop a hillock presiding over. The Maidan once used to be a dense forest with ferocious animals and was used to carry out capital punishments – the doomed ones were brought here from the walled incarceration nearby and let off. The creatures took care of the rest. Sakthan Thampuran, the ruler, ordered the clearing of the forest – a move vehemently opposed by the local oracle. Sakthan (meaning ‘powerful’) resolved the issue by chopping off his head. It is believed that slightly remorseful, he issued orders to celebrate the Pooram with all the pomp and splendour we see today. Some claim the Pooram might have existed before Sakthan but definitely not on the same regal scale. 

We are Thechikottukavu Ramachandrans

Shift one leg and you will not be able to put it back down – goes the legend for the kind of crowd that gathers at the festival. The festival sees millions heaving, throbbing and fist pumping to the melam of traditional percussion ensembles like one flowing, swaying organism. Despite security threats from militant outfits, the crowd thronged in record numbers this year. Even though everyone knew the outcome of the legal spat between the administrators and the festival organisers, they waited with abated breath. Many, I saw, sported tee shirts with ‘Thechikottukavu Ramachandran’ beneath am embossed photograph of the majestic jumbo at the centre of a raging controversy.

Why can’t he?

The Vadakkumnathan temple

The passage that led to the toddy shop was so narrow that my elbows scraped the mildewed sidewalls. Apparently the brew was so potent the close walls provided handy support when you lurched out. This was the problem with reputations – the last time we met we got so high that we trashed a hotel room. My friend reminded me that I left a television set with a caved-in screen on him; I remembered waking up with a half-shaven head. Therefore, the most disreputable – and dangerous, according to some like those who lost their eyesight and sound functioning of inner body parts – joint in the suburban gramadeolas of Thrissur was picked for our reunion after 15 years. We ordered a bottle each which I bet was rice water with a lot of strong additives and got high in no time. In the toddy shops of Kerala, at least the ones in the sticks, you are gauged by the time you take to polish off your first bottle. Soon enough you can see the curious eyes that were burrowing into you grow fuzzy with warmth; the wary lips begin to cackle in boomerang motion and the general bonhomie going up by several notches. A whole new world opens up to you welcomingly and the information is all yours to seek.

What is the deal with Thechikottukavu Ramachandran? I asked.

Gaggle electrified, it took a while for me to follow the thread – there were no dissenting voices. Everybody spoke at once and was unanimous in their decision that the district administration was being high and mighty: Ramachandran couldn’t be kept in captivity.

Pride of the land – a temple announcement

Or away from the celebrations.

He should be accorded his due place.

And allowed to headline the grandest festival of Kerala.

Only Ramachandran could do justice to the memory of Sakthan Thampuran.

But what about the fact that he has killed over a dozen people and three elephants so far? I am sure I didn’t put it so bluntly – only my elbows were slightly bloodied afterwards.

What is he?

‘Thechikottukavu’ Ramachandran belonged to the Thechikottukavu temple near Thrissur in Kerala and flaunted dimensions which were species-defying. At 10 feet and six inches, the 54-year old is the tallest elephant in India and the second tallest in Asia. When fully caparisoned he is the stuff of lore – stories abound of people swooning at the sight of him. The villagers who lived around the temple pooled in resources to buy Ramachandran 35 years ago and jointly undertook the responsibility for his upkeep. In Kerala where temple reputations are made by the number of pachyderms they own, Thechikottukavu temple does it in one sweeping, flapping giant stroke with Ramachandran.

Chamayam – finery on display

When I visited my friend’s home, his mother insisted I visit their village temple which was next door. She was sure I’d like it as there were 22 elephants in the hokkie. I loved it and my friend had to literally drag me away. If you are a lover of mega structures like me, mega creatures are both astounding and humbling at the same time. Shows you who the real boss is. Though not exactly of preposterous proportions, the Bactrian camels of Nubra and the camels at the research centre in Jaisalmer all had me moon-eyed. They serve as purposeful checks in case we got too carried away by our own looks or prowess. When the guys at the toddy shop went gaga over the goliath, I was tinged with goose bumps of pleasure – I could perfectly understand them. Soon enough, I began to relate to them.

In a small way, all the brouhaha around Ramachandran was also one reason for me to make the trip. My long-time buddy was also making a spruik for a social media agency he was setting up, I was sold. Ramachandran must be aware of the iconic status he enjoys for he threw a tantrum on occasions. But the way he carried himself – his thalapokkam (height), the length of the tusks and the overall shape – sets your heart racing. Like the endless love for a cute sproglet, you forgave him for many misdeeds including murder. His admirers at the toddy shop blamed the ill temper on a drunk mahout who used to poke his eyes by way of punishment which eventually rendered him partially blind. Any sudden movement or untoward sound from the blind side and Ramachandran would lose it. The tusker claimed his 13^th victim at a housewarming ceremony in February this year. Following the incident, he was proclaimed medically unfit by a committee and a ban was put on parading him by the wild life warden.

The Pooram is all about jumbo love

Finally, did he?

On the eve of the festival, I joined a mile-long queue which would take me to a hall spread across two floors displaying the chamayam or the finery that would adorn the elephants on Pooram days. The shimmering array included the nettipattam (caparison), venchamaram (the tuft fans), aalavattam (round shields decorated with peacock feathers) and the muthukuda (decorated umbrellas). Nobody minded the severe pre-monsoon humidity that drenched us all in sweat but gawked at the regalia on display and pointed out things to each other. After Pooram kicked off the next day, I asked a local about the schedule and he reeled off all I had to know – beginning from the days of Sakthan Thampuran.

An interesting thing he told me was about the kudamattom ceremony or the changing of umbrellas. Earlier spiffy and embellished umbrellas carried atop elephants were just raised and lowered. The prisoners who lived in the Maidan premises wrote to Sakthan requesting him to prolong the umbrella ceremony – which was the only thing they could witness from within the high walls. Thampuran took the request kindly and initiated the kudamattom ceremony – where umbrellas were changed. Today, the warring teams display some astounding designs in umbrellas in a bid to best the other. These umbrellas are kept as a secret till kudamattom – one doesn’t get to see them at chamayam. Similarly, competition was introduced across categories – elephant finery, percussion and the fireworks that mark the culmination – to get the audience more involved in the proceedings. Well, it is not as if the people need any encouragement – the collective apprehension over the fate of Ramachandran said it all.

How they turn out – breathtaking

When emotions run high and public sentiments are raw, sometimes even the judiciary will be forced to take recourse to post-truths. A 10-metre perimeter was ordered, large posse of policemen, highly restricted appearance time and a waiting lorry. All these were the precautions mandated by the High Court to allow Ramachandran to open the festivities. This he did with his customary aplomb as chants of ‘Rama…Rama…’ rang through the air.