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NETTIPATTAM:

NETTI = forehead..

Ornamental headdress for elephants during festivals in Kerala specially at the Thrissur Pooram festival at Thrissur.

‘Nettipattams’ are fashioned out of gold-covered brass and ornamental cloth.

Around three and a half kilograms of copper/brass and three sovereigns (24 gm) of gold go into the making of a nettipattam. It takes around 20 days to craft this ornament.

An elephant of 9 to 10 ft in height would require an ornament of 60 to 66 inch in length with at least 11 crescent .

About 5,500 gold-plated copper balls are stitched on thick cloth to create a `nettippattam'.


Nettipattam is primarily made in Thiruvankulam village of Ernakulam District and the adjoining areas of Thrissur. One of the famous families in Trichur district of Kerala called Venkitadri family have made ornaments for three generations, especially for the famous Thrissur pooram or festival.
They decorate 150 elephants with ornaments for temple festivals.


The ‘nettipattam’ symbolises Lord Ganapathi in full splendour. The biggest half-sphere on the caparison represents Ganapathi, while the smaller ones and the crescents are symbolic of the entire pantheon of Hindu gods.

One Hindu legend has it that Brahma designed the first ‘nettippattam’ for Airavatham, the mythological white elephant.

http://www.webonautics.com/ethnicindia/festivals/pooram2.html

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