Current Time in Thrissur, India

Thrissur lies in the central part of Kerala in southern India, on the plain between the Arabian Sea and the forested slopes of the Western Ghats. The city is unusual in plan, laid out in a great circle around a wooded hillock called the Thekkinkadu Maidan, on which the ancient Vadakkunnathan temple stands. Coconut palms, paddy fields and backwaters surround the built-up area, and the monsoon brings months of heavy, dependable rain.

With around three hundred thousand residents in the city and close to two million in its metropolitan area, Thrissur is one of the largest urban centres in Kerala. It is universally known as the cultural capital of the state, because the academies of literature, music, drama and fine arts that shape Malayalam artistic life are all based here. It is also the centre of Kerala's gold trade, and a remarkable share of the jewellery sold across India passes through its markets.

The name comes from Thrissivaperur, the town with the name of the sacred Shiva. Settlement here is very old, and the region features in traditions of both Hinduism and early Indian Christianity, since Saint Thomas is said by local tradition to have landed on this coast in the first century. Thrissur was a seat of the Kingdom of Cochin, and its modern form was created in the late eighteenth century by the ruler Sakthan Thampuran, who cleared the hill, laid out the round road and invited merchant communities to settle, deliberately building a commercial and religious capital.

The Vadakkunnathan temple, a masterpiece of Kerala architecture with a circular shrine, murals and a mural-covered kuttambalam theatre, is the heart of the city. Around it stand the Our Lady of Dolours Basilica, one of the tallest churches in Asia, the Thrissur Zoo, the State Museum and the Sakthan Thampuran palace. The Athirappilly waterfalls, the Peechi dam and the beaches at Snehatheeram are within easy reach.

The city is famous above all for Thrissur Pooram, held in April or May, which is among the most spectacular festivals in India. Two temple processions face each other across the maidan with dozens of caparisoned elephants carrying ceremonial parasols, accompanied by hundreds of drummers performing panchavadyam and melam, and the night ends with an extraordinary fireworks contest watched by hundreds of thousands. The Kerala Kalamandalam academy of classical arts, home of kathakali and mohiniyattam training, lies just north of the city.

Thrissur is well connected by rail on the main line down the west coast, by frequent buses, and by Cochin International Airport about an hour away. Education is a strength, with St Thomas College, Kerala Varma College, a government medical college and the Kerala Agricultural University campus at Vellanikkara.

Thrissur combines temple ritual, church architecture, classical performance and vigorous commerce, and for many visitors it is the best place to understand what makes Kerala distinctive.