Thousands throng Poornathrayeesha Temple

TRIPUNITHURA: Thousands of devotees thronged the nalambalam (in front of the Ganapathy idol) of the Sree Poornathrayeesha Temple on the second day of the Vrischikolsavam on Thursday, to get a glimpse of the presiding deity.The thidambu (replica of the idol) of Lord Sree Poornathrayeeshan was taken out and placed in a specially decorated Pazhukka Mandapam (a dais decorated with ripened arecanut and flowers).The devotees were allowed to get darshan from 2.30 pm onwards. After sprinkling havissu (boiled rice) for saptha mathrukkal and ashtadhik palakas (guards of eight direction), the Valiya Balikallu (ceremonial granite stone in front of the temple) was fully covered with Havissu.  Later, Temple thantri Puliyannoor Hari Narayanan Namboothiri, accompanied by assistants, sprinkled the Havissu atop the ceremonial granite stones, symbolising sub deities, and completed the Ottapradakshinam.MelathrayamMeanwhile, Melathrayam, a performance of three different percussion ensembles - panchaarimelam, atantha melam and chembada melam - is the crowd puller at Vrischikolsavam. The eight-day festival will witness 15 rounds of melam performances.The melathrayam begins with the melodious panchaarimelam from the Aanakkottil. Starting with a slow-paced pathikaalam, here the melam attains the beauty of the athivilambith kaal of Hindustani music. Stalwarts, including Kelathu Aravindakshan, add elegance to this phase. After the second and third phases, when the melam reaches the fourth phase, the intensity of the nerkol (straight beat) adds a unique beauty as the basic beats are linked through the harmonious tone of elathaalam (cymbals). Then comes the final (fifth) phase where the frequency of the melam will be 16 times that of pathikaalam.The basic beats controlled by experts like Pariyarathu Unni Marar, Peruvanam Gopalakrishnan and youngsters from Anthikadu add depth to the melam. With the conclusion of the panchaarimelam, leading artistes like Padmasri Peruvanam Kuttan Marar, Pazhuvil Raghu and Peruvanam Satheesan will stage the Atantha Vaha (creative numbers on Edamthala), followed by the third and fourth phase of Atantha Melam. This session will conclude in front of the Oottupura Malika.From here begins the chembada melam, which is popularly known in Poornathrayeesha Temple as Nadappura Kalaasham. Here the elathaalam provides a scintillating melody to the entire rhythmic paraphernalia. The striking elathalam performance by Maniyamparambil Mani, Parakkad Babu, Peruvanam Sharody Murali and Kummathu Venu takes the melam to a new level.