Pooram's pachyderm parade a huge crowd-puller

TRADITIONAL WAY: The Kerala High Court relaxed its stance on the parade of elephants.

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Thiruvnanathapuram: Kerala is celebrating one of the prominent temple festivals – Thrissur Pooram – on Wednesday.

Hours before the colourful festival kicks off at Thrissur in Kerala, the exhibition of elephant gear is drawing in big crowds.

Close to 50 elephants are expected to take part in a huge procession, and thousands of tourists are pouring into Thrissur.

“This is absolutely stunning. I am very impressed with whatever I have seen. Now I am looking forward to buy something from here,” enthused a German tourist, Mike.

The colourful parasols, the shining head decoration and the rest will be mounted on the tuskers as they line up for a traditional contest between two temples here on Wednesday evening. For now, though, it's the Rs 100 jumbo ride that's taking the tourists' breath away.

“It was always my wish to climb an elephant and ride on it. I have been hearing it for a long time from many of my friends. I just did it today and it was just great,” a Scottish tourist, Shiela Dixon said.

The city is chock-a-block with tourists. City hotels don't have enough rooms to match the rush.

“This year there is heavy rush for Pooram as it has fallen very close to Vishu. For us, all the rooms are booked. Still we are getting calls from a numbers of places,” said the manager of Elite Hotel, Baladevan.

Yet, bus-loads of people from across the region are assembling for the big evening. With the Kerala High Court giving a relaxation on the parade of elephants, the Pooram this year is expected to be as glorious as in the past.

With inputs from Kundur Sathya Narayan