Thrissur Town Hall - Kerala

This picture is of Thrissur Town Hall, Kerala. The Thrissur Town Hall is an imposing building situated in Thrissur city of Kerala. It was constructed during the Dewanship of RK Shanmughom Chetti and contains the Archaeological Museum and Picture Gallery, where mural paintings from all parts of the Kerala are copied and exhibited. The must see in this museum is the collection of the old manuscripts which is written on the palm leaves, they are called as olagrandhangal.

Kummatti kali Pictures (Onam) - Kerala

This picture is of "kummatty" which is a festival celebrating in Kerala during Onam season. Kummattikali is the famous colorful mask-dance of Kerala, South Malabar in particular. During the festival of Onam, Kummattikali performers move from house to house collecting small gifts and entertaining people. Kummatti dances are rampant in the Thrissur district during Onam. Pristine or original form of Kummattikali can be seen in the Bhadrakali temple in Palghat district.
Costumes - The costumes are a most interesting facet of Kummattikali. The dancers don a heavily painted colourful wooden mask depicting faces of Krishna, Narada, Kiratha, Darika, or hunters. These masks are usually made out of saprophyte, jack fruit tree, Alstonia scholaris, Hog Plum tree or the Coral tree.
The dancers wear skirts woven out of plaited grass. Some cover their whole body with bunches of grass for a more bushy appearance. The semblance is made more joyful with the 'talla' attached externally to the mask giving the appearance of a toothless open mouth. Dancers also hold and manipulate long sticks of residuary agricultural produce called 'Kummattikali': it is from this that the dance derives its name. Their dance is related to Shaiva myth. 'Thamma' (an old woman) walks in front with the help of a stick. Thamma is symbolic of mother of every being and everything.
Kummatti dancers are a sight to watch as they move around from house to house collecting jaggery, rice, or small amounts of cash. Onlookers, specially children take great delight in their performance.
Performance - The rhythm for the dance movements is provided by vibrating the string of a bow like instrument called an Onavillu. Areca nut wood is used to make the bow and the strings are beaten with a narrow bamboo stick.
The themes of Kummattikali are mostly taken from the stories of Ramayana, Darika Vadham, the story of Shiva and folk tales like Manjan Nayare Pattu.
It may be noted that folk art of Kerala can be classified into two broad categories - ritualistic and non-ritualistic. Ritualistic can be further divided into - Devotional, performed to please a particular god and goddess and Magical Art Forms. Theyyam, Thira, Poothamthira, Kannyar Kali, Kummattikali, etc. are some of devotional art forms.

Vazhani Dam - Thrissur, Kerala

This picture is of Vazhani Dam which is in Thrissur, Kerala. Vazhani Dam is made up of clay which is one of the biggest clay dams in Kerala. It is situated 23 km away from Thrissur. It has a length of 792.48 metres. Water from this vazhani dam is mainly used for irrigation and drinking purposes. Vazhani dam and its garden is a splendid spectacular view. It is one of the tourist attraction of Thrissur district. This project in Thrissur district envisages construction of an earth dam built across the Vadakkancherry puzha, The project was completed during the year 1962.

Basilica of Our Lady of Dolours (Puthan Pally)

This picture is of Basilica of Our Lady of Dolours (Puthan Pally) located in Thrissur,Kerala. It is the biggest and tallest church in Asia, situated in the heart of the city of Thrissur in the South Indian state of Kerala. It is famous for its Gothic style architecture. Built in fine Indo-Gothic style with an area of 25,000 square feet (2,300 m2), it has soaring belfries at the entrance, double storeyed aisles all along the nave and transepts, and eleven altars, five on either side of the main one. It is the largest church in India and its exuberant interior decorations include fine specimens of murals, images of saints and scenes from the scriptures.
The construction of this biggest church in India was done in different phases, started in the year 1929. The two front towers are of 146 feet (45 m) height each and the central tower of 260 feet (79 m) height makes this church as tallest in Asia. Completion of the towers were an architectural challenge. Few experts from Tamil Nadu were brought over. Architect who completed the church was Ambrose Gounder.