Kerala - God's Own Country...

Elephants of Kerala - A Playful tusker...

2011-12-19T05:55:00.000+05:30

After a long hiatus, I'm back with more articles and pictures on Kerala....

When you talk about Kerala, the image of an elephant comes to our mind immediately... I've been fortunate to have witnessed quite a few elephants coming to our home en-route to the temple nearby. They come to our home to take a break from the heat by cooling themselves with our well water...

Elephants of Kerala - A Playful tusker spraying water :)

This picture above of the tusker elephant is of one such elephant which was going on its way to the Pooram festival in the Parakkotu Kavu temple nearby... This one was a playful tusker which was spraying water all around itself and the folks nearby. I was half drenched while taking this picture :)

Backwaters of Alleppey : Places in Kerala

2009-12-03T00:41:00.001+05:30

Alappuzha (Alleppey in English) is a coastal town in Kerala. Alleppey is a popular tourist location in India, famous for the backwaters especially. One can find calm and peace amidst the palm fringed canals, shores bustling with people doing their normal day to day activities in the country side, mirrored lagoons, picturesque lakeside and long sandy beach...

People living on the banks using boats as means of transportation, vegetable vendors selling veggies in their boats, children going to their schools in boats these are common sights in Allapuzha.
The whole setting of the place is so beautiful that Lord Curzon called it the "Venice of the East".

For tourism, House boats are available for rent and people can hire the house boats for hours and even for days and go around the backwaters area. A typical house boat will have one/two bedrooms with attached bathrooms in them. There will be chefs cooking freshly caught fish for you in traditional coastal Kerala style and you can just enjoy the whole day cruising around. This makes Alleppey a popular honeymoon destination for the newly weds :)

Here, I present you couple of pictures of the beautiful backwaters of Alappuzha.....

Picture Source: Thanks to Neeraj for providing these beautiful pictures of Alleppey.

Pooram Pictures - 7 : Bhagavati Devi carried during Thiruvilwamala Thalappoli pooram....

2009-10-23T21:00:00.002+05:30

During the Pooram festivals, as seen in my previous posts, the procession of caparisoned elephants and kuda mattam are very important happenings during a pooram. But, if you had noticed, the elephant in the center will be carrying a deity.

Here, I've captured a close up of the deity Bhagavati Devi which is carried in the Thiruvilwamala Thalappoli pooram festival.

Pooram Pictures - 6 : Nettipattom for Elephants...

2009-10-11T20:33:00.000+05:30

One sight that amazes anyone watching Pooram festivals in Kerala for the first time is the beautifully caparisoned elephants carrying the deity Bhagavati Devi's idol above them.

Today, I'll present two pictures of "Nettipattom" i.e., gold plated caparisons used to decorate the elephants. Generally, all the ornaments thats used to decorate the elephants are kept on public display the previous night of pooram. These images are taken during my visit to one such display.

Pooram Pictures - 5: Poothan and Thira...

2009-10-03T00:24:00.002+05:30

Here is another picture of a common site during Pooram festivals in North Kerala...
Though the title says Poothan and Thira, the picture shows only two Poothan's. Since Poothan and Thira always go together, I didn't want to separate them :)

Poothan and Thira is a dance form performed infront of people during such festive occasions and is considered as a good sign if the Poothan and Thira comes to your house and perform. It is considered that they clean the evil spirits.
Poothan and Thira together visit the Hindu houses during Pooram festival with their musicians. During the morning of Pooram festival, people await the arrival of Poothan and Thira to their houses and welcome them. It is believed that they represent the goddess who visits her devotees and blesses them.

From the wikipedia, - "A typical Poothan Thira performance comprising mostly shouts and wild gestures. The duo is immensely popular amongst the natives and an essential part of the village festivals of the region. Poothan player usually wear in bright (usually red), tightly woven costumes embellished with gold-coloured trinkets. Their larger than life headdresses with peacock features and imposing masks with stick out tongues and eyes are sure to leave an unbelievable imagination to the viewer. Thira player wears semicircular black crown mounted on his head with symbols of the goddess embossed on the same. We can see may Thira players with extra ordinary acrobatic skills who make the performance to a real treat to watch."

I'll try to get a picture of both Poothan and Thira together. I guess I have a video of both of them performing, just have to find it and upload.
Until next time, ciao....

Pooram Pictures - 4: Decorated Pooram Pandals...

2009-09-14T01:44:00.001+05:30

During Pooram festival, the streets would be decorated and you could see big pandals lit with beautiful lights...
This next Pooram picture shows you one such Pooram Pandal

Hope you like the pictures that I'm posting of Pooram. Looking forward to see your comments about these pictures...

Pooram Festival Pictures - 3: Kudamattam on caparisoned elephants...

2009-09-13T01:16:00.001+05:30

One of the main attractions of any Pooram festival is the Kuda mattam (or koda mattam) which is, in simple terms, changing of colorful umbrellas performed over heavily caparisoned (decorated) elephants.
Here in this picture you could see the people sitting over the elephants performing the kuda mattam ceremony during Thalappoli in Thiruvilwamala (Thrissur Dt.)

I'll try to put some videos of the kuda mattam too....

Pooram Festival Pictures - 2: Elephants @ Thalapoli

2009-09-06T00:52:00.001+05:30

Thalapoli (or Thalappoli) Pooram festival is celebrated in Thiruvilwamala (a small town in Thrissur dt). It is celebrated the Sunday after the great Thrissur Pooram is celebrated.
It is a festival celebrated for the Parakkotu kavu temple housing Goddess Bhagavathi(or Durga mata as known by many).

Here you can see the Goddess Bhagavati devi being carried by the elephant during the procession towards the temple for the Pooram festival.

Pooram Festival Pictures - 1: Elephants @ Thalapoli

2009-09-04T22:21:00.003+05:30

Pooram festivals are very famous temple festivals celebrated every year mostly in the Northern parts of Kerala.
The highlights of Pooram festivals are highly decorated elephants procession to the temple, the fire crackers, Panchavadyam and many other performances by local artists.

One such Pooram festival is "Thalapoli" celebrated in my native town of Thiruvilwamala every year just one week after Thrissur Pooram.

Here is a picture taken this year at the Thalapoli pooram festival in Thiruvilwamala.

These elephants are being paraded towards the Parakkotu Kavu Bhagavati temple...
Watch out this space for more pictures of Pooram festivals...

Close up shot of an Indian Tusker Elephant.. : Picture 5

2009-08-30T02:30:00.004+05:30

Now, for a more closer shot of an Elephant of Kerala... This one is a huge male tusker elephant which came to my house to drink water... You could see the majestic elephant in a close-up shot.

Indian Elephants with Huge Trunks... : Picture 4

2009-08-29T01:14:00.001+05:30

One more Elephants of India picture.... This time a close-up of an Indian giant elephant... In Kerala (or I believe this could be anywhere too), elephants whose trunk is very long are believed to be handsome, good-looking and auspicious too....

Even in Kerala, such elephants are considered very good and are chosen for Pooram festivals. Look out for more information about Pooram festivals and photos of Pooram festival in this blog..

Jumbo Tusker of Kerala.... : Picture 3

2009-08-19T23:38:00.004+05:30

Here is another picture of the Jumbo Tusker which came to my house to drink water...
This photo was taken when the elephant was on its way back taking its food in its trunk... You could see the strength in its muscles..

Watch out for more such pictures...

Huge Tusker Elephant of Kerala.... : Picture 2

2009-08-19T00:39:00.007+05:30

Continuing with my earlier post on the Elephants of Kerala, am going to post some more pictures that have been taken in my home in Kerala...

This picture is of a Huge Tusker Elephant and you can see how healthy and strong this Elephant is.... The mahout said that this one used to create problems during festivals, so nowadays not used much for festivals...

Check out this blog for more such pictures of Elephants of Kerala and many such things that fascinates people to come to Kerala...

Elephants of Kerala...

2009-06-28T22:54:00.007+05:30

One of the first image that 'Kerala' conjures up is that of an elephant.. and I shall introduce you all to THE picture !!

Its taken on the occasion of Thalappoli, the pooram festival of Thiruvilwamala ; which I shall describe in much details later. This elephant deserves special attention as being one of the biggest ones in Kerala.. and its a great kick to have seen it so up close !! It was a guest at my place for a period of two days of the festival and in the photo you see 'him' entering our porch for a bath :)

Kerala... beginning of a new series...

2009-06-28T15:16:00.006+05:30

Kerala - One of the southern coastal state of India is known for many things - nature, backwaters, elephants, high rate of literacy, culture and tradition, food especially sea food, colorful festivals, Kathakali, Kalarippayattu (aka Kalari) martial arts and many more... making people call it "God's Own Country"..
Ofcourse, you would have guessed by now that I'm a native of Kerala :)
I created this blog to showcase some of these through my pictures and occasional posts about some of these elements which makes Kerala - A God's Own Country.