Kavassery : Frenzied mass participation characterises annual temple festivals in Kerala that invariably include colourful processions of richly caparisoned elephants and panchavadyam (orchestra) by a combination of percussion instruments.

Other highlights of the February-May festivals - known as pooram, arattu, vela or kummatti in different places - are spectacular fireworks displays at night and puja and age-old rituals in the temples that seek to provide spiritual nourishment.

Large groups of men, women and children from villages and towns trek to the venues honouring Hindu gods and goddesses, comparable to the Durga Puja in Bengal and Diwali and Dussehra in the north.

The festivals have been held in hundreds of temples across Kerala for decades and create a passion among the organisers and supporters who compete among themselves to put up a great show in terms of content.

The elephants, adorned with golden armour, stand in formation and three men mount atop each of them. One man carries fans made of peacock feathers (aalavattom), another swings batons with plumes of white fur (venchamaram) and the third holds a brightly coloured umbrella (kuda) high above the elephant's back.

In sync with the drum beats, the riders wave the parasols and fans, adding to the visual splendour.

One of the elephants carries the head priest holding the image of the deity that is honoured in the celebrations.

Of the five instruments in panchavadyam, four belong to the percussion category -- timila, maddalam, ilathalam and idakka -- while the fifth one, kombu, is a wind instrument.

The traditional orchestras are called Panchavadyam, Thayambaka, Pandi Melam and Panchari Melam.

The orchestra begins at a slow pace and then scales on to a medium tempo, eventually culminating in high, frenzied speed. The old and young onlookers wave their arms above the head to indicate their appreciation of the beats kept up by the drummers.

The exercise is repeated every year, but there is no question of monotony as the lead drummer is an expert capable of introducing new rhythms as often as needed to bring about a change in the audience's mood.

In another exercise to enthuse visitors, colourful umbrellas are whipped and unfurled atop the elephants in quick succession. The scene of colour and beauty and sound, enthusiastically applauded, is difficult to erase from one's memory.

The Pooram festival comes to an exciting close after a wide variety of fireworks explode at night.

Here is an account of the Pooram festival of Kavassery:

In Kavassery, the competition is among three desams (localities) - Kazhani, Vavulliapuram and Kavassery - that jointly hold the pooram, especially in fireworks as well as elephant processions. One specialty in the region is the competition among them in preparing decorated wooden horses, each of which is carried by scores of men to the temple of Parakkattu Sree Bhagavathy, in whose honour the week-long pooram festival is held. Pooram this time is being preceded by four cultural evenings when well-known singers and dancers gave their performances.