00:00: The illustrious Panchari melam is performed by Kerala's most renowned percussion experts.
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The highlight of the event is an over four-hour Panchari melam in the temple compound past midnight on the uthram day, with each of the five caparisoned elephants on the occasion carrying a deity each from as many temples.
Each day of the festival, a seeveli (procession of caparisoned temple elephants) is held twice, once in the morning and once at night, to the accompaniment of Panchari melam (sacred music).
Although the more popular Thrissur Pooram can be accredited with bringing major changes to the conduct of Poorams in Kerala, the Peruvanam Pooram claims a rich history, and it has witnessed a lot of innovations/additions, some of which form the core of temple festivals in Kerala.The first performance of the Panchari melam is said to have been performed for the Pooram of Urakathamma Thiruvadi, at the Peruvanam Pooram.
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The Panchari melams of Urakam Devi temple and the Cherpu Bhagavathy Temple, are amongst the finest performed, with the latter being the more famous.
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The pooram has its highlight in the form of the four-hour Panchari melam starting at about 4am.
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The pooram consists of numerous Ezhunnallippu (Malayalam word which means taking out a temple deity atop a caparisoned elephant) with elephants totalling seven, to the accompaniment of traditional percussion ensembles like Panchari melam or Pandi melam.