The brilliantly lit Thiruvambadi temple

The Thiruvambadi temple in Kerala, South India is one of the two leading participants of its grand festival – the Thrissur pooram; the other being the Paramekkavu temple. The pooram is held at the Vadakkumnathan temple in Thrissur (trichur) town.

Both temples try to outrival the other in temple illumination, and in the ceremony of kudamattam (kudamattom) or the changing of umbrellas, where brightly colored and sequined parasols held over caparisoned elephants are changed rhythmically.

Other highlights of the Thrissur Pooram are traditional orchestras like pandimelam and panchavadyam, in which percussion instruments predominate.

This video shows the Thiruvambadi temple in full illumination on the pooram day.