Chenda melam musicians perform during the annual Puram festival, the largest and most colorful temple festival in Kerala, which is held each year in Thrissur.<br /><br />Chenda Melam, the typical music of Kerala, features lots of hard skinned "chenda" drums, double reeded oboe-like instruments called kuzhals, and C-shaped compu bell-metal trumpets. The musicians play faster and faster in cycles, while the onlooking crowds jump up and down in a mosh-pit like swoon of approval.<br /><br /> The festival culminates with a "face off" of 30 elephants representing two temples, Paramekkavu and Tiruvambadi, when each side presents a series of colorful parasols or umbrellas and hopes to be regarded as the best.
Chenda melam musicians perform during the annual Puram festival, the largest and most colorful temple festival in Kerala, which is held each year in Thrissur.<br /><br />Chenda Melam, the typical music of Kerala, features lots of hard skinned "chenda" drums, double reeded oboe-like instruments called kuzhals, and C-shaped compu bell-metal trumpets. The musicians play faster and faster in cycles, while the onlooking crowds jump up and down in a mosh-pit like swoon of approval.<br /><br /> The festival culminates with a "face off" of 30 elephants representing two temples, Paramekkavu and Tiruvambadi, when each side presents a series of colorful parasols or umbrellas and hopes to be regarded as the best.
