Kerala is famous for its unique style of temple architecture. There are many temples in Kerala. Some of the important ones are Anantha-Padmanabha Swami temple in Thiruvanandapuram,
Vadakkumnathan temple in Thrissur, Ernakulathappan temple in Ernakulam and Shri Krishna Temnple in Guruvayur.
Thrissur is an ancient town. In 1790, Raja Rama Varma, popularly known as Sakthan Thampooran created the present town of Trichur. The name Thrissur is derived from” Tri-Siva-Perur” which means the town with three Shiva temples, namely, Vadakkumnathan, Kottapuram Siva temple and Punkunnam temple. It also means the place with the holy name of Shiva. The town is also called Vrishbadripuram and Ten Kailasam.
There are many temples in and around Trichur. The Vadakkumnathan temple in Thrissur is the most famous for its architecture. This temple is believed to be built by “Parasuraman”. It is an ancient temple with many wall paintings and historically important pieces of art. This temple is most famous for its annual “Pooram” festival that is celebrated in the months of April-May or the Malayalam month- Medam. This festival was introduced by Sakthan Thampooran and is being celebrated every year for the last two centuries. It is the most colorful and popular festival that draws crowds from all over the world. The presiding deity of Vadakkumnathan temple is Lord Shiva. It is believed that ten deities around the temple pay their obeisance to the presiding deity on this day. The elephants are lined up and the traditional music or “Panchavadyam”: is played. It is a two day festival and concludes with a grand display of fireworks. The festival begins at 6am on the first day and concludes at 12 noon on the next day. The air is festive with decorated elephants and music. People from all over the world come here to witness this grand festival. There are other temples near Trichur like the Guruvayur Shri Krishna temple and the Thriprayar which are also famous.