The Chinakathoor Pooram - The Festival of Seven Lands

Kerala is always famous for the festivals that make life, a celebration in this land. The festival of seven lands in Kerala named Chinakathoor Pooram falls on the date of Malayalam star ‘Makam’ in the Malayalam month of Kumbham (English month-February).

Chinakathoor Pooram is always regarded next to the famous Thrissur Pooram.  When two temples fight for their prominence in the celebrations of Thrissur Pooram, seven lands would be trying their best to score in the Chinakathoor Pooram celebrations. The seven lands that participate in the Pooram are Ottappalam, Meetna, Palappuram, Pallarumangalam, Erakkattiri, Thekkumangalam and Vadakkummangalam. 

There are two shrines named Melekkavu and Thazhekkavu at Chinakathoor temple. Usually the shrines are considered inauspicious, if they open towards the South direction. However the shrine of Melekkavu is opened towards the south direction in order to appease the ferocious form of the Goddess inside. Also, the priest in this temple is from the Nair community.  Usually Brahmins have the right for the priesthood in most of the temples in Kerala, a practice still continued from the age of caste system. 

There is a belief that the Goddess resides at the Banyan tree near the ancestral home of Manthredam. A man from the Nair community comes and announces the beginning of the festival standing under the Bunyan tree. The eldest member of the family will give him rice grains in a ‘Para.’ The Chinakathoor Pooram can start then and there. 

The beginning of the festival is commenced with the ‘Para.’ ‘Para’ means taking offerings for the temple from each house in the area. Usually the devotees may go with an elephant to each house in their area to collect the offerings.  The elephant is believed to carry the form of Goddess on him. Each householder may fill the ‘Para,’ a big jar, with rice grains as an offering to the temple.  

The festivities will start with ‘Tholppava Koothu’ before 14 days of the festival.  This play of dolls will take the storyline from the epic of Ramayana. The dialogues will be delivered in the almost extinguished language of Sangara Malayalam (Mix of Tamil and Malayalam languages).

Mangalamkunnu Ayyappan

The main attraction of this 17 days long festival is the procession of 27 elephants in full adornments.  Each land would try to get the best of the tuskers on their side. Now, for many years the majestic elephant named Mangalamkunnu Ayyappan carries the head position for the tuskers from Vadakkummangalam. The procession of tuskers from Vadakkum Mangalam starts from the yards f Manthredam.  The festival will be in its full glory with these tuskers and other traditional folk arts like vela, theyyam, poothanum thiryaum, poikkuthiras, Aandi velan and fireworks in the night. All along these 17 days, the festival will be made notable with the Panchavadyam oraganized with the temple committees.

The play of Poikkuthiras is a special attraction of Chinakkathoor Pooram. In other temples of the area, there would be ‘Kaala Kali’ (The play of bulls) unlike ‘Poikkuthiras (The play of horses.) There will be 16 horses in Chinakkathoor Pooram divided as four for Vadakkummangalam, four for Thekkum mangalam and the rest 8 for other places. Each horse will be played by 16 people. The leading horse named ‘Pandarakkuthira’ wouldn’t be played but stand watching the whole game.

Another unique feature of Chinakkathoor Pooram is the Kalamezhuthu. People will draw the image of Goddess Bhagavathy on the floor with colours made by rice flour, turmeric and other natural ingredients. This will be repeated for seven days. The curious factor is that the measurement of these images will be exactly the same for the seven days and the painters won’t even take the measurement for that. 

Normally, there will be a holiday for all the government offices and Educational institutions of Ottappalam Muncipality on the occasion of Chinakkathoor Pooram. A whole village wait to celebrate this festival with their whole hearts.  Not only the natives but also people from other places drop into witness this unique festival that is claimed to be second next to the Thrissur Pooram. It is believed that most of the prayers will be answered during this occasion. People would cluster in to hear the ‘Velichappedal’ (It is believed that the Goddess will talk to you through a chosen person.) that might give a hint to solve their problems. There will be a huge demand for ‘Thali’ and ‘Pattu’ from Goddess on this occasion.

After the Pooram, people go off keeping the colourful memories in their mind. It is then that the elephants return to Manthredam. Some owners of the elephants find the unkept wilderness in the area suitable for their possessions and people in Manthredam usually don’t worry about the presence of trained elephants in their area. The elephants accompanied by their mahouts come, take rest and rejuvenate here before continuing their journey to the next destinations.

When I went to Manthredam last time there was the elephant named Mangalamkunnu Ayyappan. People were enjoying each of his movements as one would watch the games of a baby. I felt for them as I realized that they might be cherishing the memories of a lost time, when they were able to tend own elephants in their area. 

Afterword: There was a television channel that approached the elders of Manthredam for a programme calling the home as ‘Aana Tharavadu’ (Home for elephants). The elders declined the offer. The presence of elephants must be the best reward for them than the publicity gained through media.