Kerala to webcast temple festival

In a first of its kind initiative, Kerala Tourism will webcast the last two days of the seven-day 'Arattupuzha Pooram', a mass celebration of 23 temples.

The webcast will begin 6 p.m. on March 18 and continue till 2 p.m. March 19. You can catch the webcast at www.keralatourism.org.

The Arattupuzha temple, dedicated to Lord Sree Dharma Sastha, has been performing the 'pooram' for the last 1,428 years.

"Cultural tourism is the focus area of Kerala tourism. The culture, festivals and traditions of Kerala, if promoted in a big way, would bring more travellers to the state. The live webcast of Arattupuzha Pooram is a step in this regard," said tourism secretary V. Venu.

The 'devamela' or the divine gathering during the grand finale of the festivities is an occasion of colour, pomp and pageantry.

On the eve of the penultimate day of the festival, deities of the participating temples arrive at the temple on caparisoned elephants in colourful processions.

Grand elephant pageantry, traditional percussion ensembles and special rituals mark the celebrations, which last till the next morning.