Thousands throng to witness Thrissur Pooram

Amidst speculations that the rain gods might play spoilsport, the Thrissur Pooram took off on as grand a scale as usual, much to the relief of the organisers and the tens of thousands who had gathered at Thrissur city to take part in it. The tuskers, in fact, seemed more relaxed this time, as the cloudy skies brought down the mercury levels.
It did start to rain as the smaller poorams started to move towards the Thekkinkad Maidanam but the crowds were undaunted.Even during the much awaited Ilanjitharamelam, the clouds gathered and it started to pour but all hands went up, and the sea of humanity swayed to the beats.The energy levels stayed sky high into the Kudamattom ceremony in the evening which had much more than parasoles this time — the LED lit umbrellas stood out against the evening sky, providing a fascinating spectacle.
Elephants Paramekkavu Padmanabhan and Thiruvambady Sivasundar headed the Kudamattom from either side this time, matching each other in majesty.