Adoor Gajamela Sree Parthasarathy Temple

ADOOR GAJAMELA SREE PARTHASARATHY TEMPLE

Panchayath/ Municipality/ Adoor Municipality Corporation

LOCATION District Pathanamthitta

Nearest Town/ Government Hospital, Adoor Landmark/ Junction

Nearest Bus station Adoor KSRTC Bus Stop

Nearest Railway Chengannur - 25 Km station ACCESSIBILITY

Nearest Airport Trivandrum International Airport - 92 Km

Adoor Parthasarathy Temple, MC Road, Parass La, Adoor, Kerala 691523 CONTACT

DATES FREQUENCY DURATION

TIME January to February Yearly 10 days ABOUT THE FESTIVAL (Legend/History/Myth)

The Adoor Gajamela is a spectacular fair and part of a ten-day annual celebration held at the Parthasarathy Temple in Adoor. The highlight of the festival is the elephant pageantry. The Elephant is the most loved and the revered animal in South India and more so in Kerala. Elephants are perceived to lend grandeur to any festivity. Gaja is Sanskrit means elephant and mela means fair. The Adoor Gajamela is therefore a fair of elephants. Hundreds of people throng the temple premises to witness this spectacle where around nine bedecked tuskers are paraded. The Gajamela takes place at the Parthasarathy temple premises. The shrine is dedicated to Lord Parthasarathy, an incarnation of Lord Krishna and is one of the oldest Krishna temples in Kerala.

International Lakhs of people RELEVANCE- NO. OF PEOPLE (Local / National / International) PARTICIPATED EVENTS/PROGRAMS DESCRIPTION (How festival is celebrated)

Elephant pageantry The Adoor Gajamela is a fair of elephants . Nine majestically Procession caparisoned elephants take part in this spectacular Panchavadyam procession which starts from the Parthasarathy Temple and Ottanthullal culminates at Chennapatti temple. The festival is part of the Religious discourses ten-day annual celebration held at the temple. Thousands of people throng the temple premises to witness this spectacle where nine tuskers come in their ceremonial attire to entice all. In this festival the best and strongest of elephants from across the state vie against each other for the Gajarajappattam which is a title that literally means ‘the king of elephants‘. Elephants decorated in glittering ornaments and marching to the accompaniment of traditional percussion music are a sight to behold. The Gajamela also showcases the choicest of ethnic art forms.