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Thrissur
Pooram was introduced by Prince Ramavarma (1750-1805), who became
popular as Sakthan Thampuran (the Mighty King), of the erstwhile
Cochin State. He is undisputedly the Father of modern Thrissur.
Sakthan cleared the Teak Forest around the Vadakunnathan Temple,
the very centre of the town. An ardent devotee of Lord Siva
himself, he renovated the temple by creating a mammoth edifice,
a ten-acre temple complex enclosed by lofty masonry walls. He
erected four massive Gopurams (Entry Towers) at the crest of
a seventy-acre evenly sloping Maidan fringed by a broad circular
road.
Sakthan Thampuran planned Trichur Pooram
as an instrument to subdue and supress an insolent section
of temple-owning priestly aristocracy; this he achieved by
ensuring peoples voluntary co-operation.
He wished local people to take
the leadership of Pooram. Towards this he entrusted the responsibility
to two public temples of Trichur, Thiruvambady and Paramekavu,
managed by the then temple-going people in the respective
‘Thattakoms’, (sectors). Traditionally, these
two groups represent the main geographic divisions of Thrissur.
They compete with each other to add Pooram’s grandeur.
Kanimangalam, Karamucku, Laloor, Choorakottukara, Panakkampally,
Ayyanthole, Chembukkavu and Neyattinkkavu are the other sectors
that actively take part in the whole exercise.
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