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A 1,500-year-old grand temple festival in Kerala is all set to go live in the virtual world, ensuring a rare visual experience online.
The Arattupuzha Pooram in Thrissur district is a mass celebration of festivals in 23 temples, which will be held on Friday and Saturday.
WEBCAST
Kerala Tourism will Webcast the pooram live from 6 p.m. on Friday to 2 p.m. on Saturday for a global audience, an official spokesman said here.
The live Webcast will be available at www.keralatourism.org and the brand channel of Kerala Tourism on YouTube (www.youtube.com/keralatourism). It is for the first time that an entire pooram is Webcast live in the State.
The Arattupuzha temple, dedicated to Lord Sree Dharma Sastha, has been conducting its famous pooram for over 1,428 years.
“Cultural tourism is a focus area of the Department of Tourism. The culture, festivals and traditions, if promoted in a big way, would bring more travellers to the State.
“The live Webcast of Arattupuzha Pooram is a firm step in this regard,” said Dr V. Venu, Secretary, Kerala Tourism.
Online promotion
According to Mr M. Sivasankar, Director, Kerala Tourism, the department has made big strides using online promotional tools.
“The official Web site of Kerala Tourism, one of the most popular travel Web sites in the country, has always made pioneering and innovative efforts.
“The live Webcast of Arattupuzha Pooram is sure to take the glory of Kerala's colourful festivals to the world,” he said.
Kerala Tourism will bring to the viewers the most exciting moments on the last two days of the seven-day festival.
The devamela , or divine gathering, during the grand finale of the festivities is marked by colour, pomp and pageantry.
MEMORABLE MOMENTS
The last two days of the festival offer several memorable moments to the thousands of spectators who flock to the temple premises.
On the evening of the penultimate day of the festival, deities of the participating temples arrive at the temple on caparisoned elephants in a colourful procession.
A grand elephant pageantry, traditional percussion ensembles and special rituals mark the celebrations, which last until dawn.
The deities are then taken out in a majestic procession to the nearby river to perform the arattu ritual.
The koottiyezhunnallippu and arattu ceremonies, performed in the presence of 71 caparisoned elephants, present a visual extravaganza in the backdrop of traditional percussion orchestras, the spokesman said.
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