Cochin Carnival is an entertainment event held every year in the last week of December at

Fort Kochi Fort Kochi, Fort Cochin in English, Cochim de Baixo ("Lower Kochi") in Cochin Portuguese creole, is a neighbourhood of Cochin (Kochi) city in Kerala, India. Fort Kochi takes its name from the Fort Manuel of Cochin, the first European for ...

in the city of

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. This event is held mostly during the last two weeks of December and finally ends on 1 January. It is officially inaugurated with hoisting the Indian national flag at the Vasco da Gama Square. The main highlight of the carnival is the massive procession on the

New Year New Year is the time or day currently at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system to ...

's Day, led by elephants in ornamental trappings. North Indian dances are a part of the procession. It is a combination of different cultures like

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

, Punjabi,

Malayalee The Malayali people () (also spelt Malayalee and also known by the demonym Keralite) are a Dravidian ethnolinguistic group originating from the present-day state of Kerala in India, occupying its southwestern Malabar coast. They are predomin ...

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

, and

Anglo Indian Anglo-Indian people fall into two different groups: those with mixed Indian and British ancestry, and people of British descent born or residing in India. The latter sense is now mainly historical, but confusions can arise. The ''Oxford English ...

culture. Many competitions like beach bike race, beach football,

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

, cycle race, bullet race, kayaking, swimming and marathon races are held. Art shows, food festivals, colourful rallies and fairs add to the festive spirit of the carnival. The main principles promoted during the festival are Participation,

Peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

, Progress, Adventure and Environment. The city is decorated with white paper buntings, especially the Kochi Fort. The white colour is dominant in all decorations which symbolizes peace and

tranquillity Tranquillity (also spelled tranquility) is the quality or state of being tranquil; that is, calm, serene, and worry-free. The word tranquillity appears in numerous texts ranging from the religious writings of Buddhism, where the term ''passaddhi'' ...

. Kochi Fort is the center of all the activities that take place at the time of the Cochin Carnival. It is promoted by the district tourism promotion council.

History

In 1984, three youngsters from Cochin - Ananda Felix Scaria (Ananda Surya), George Augustine Thundiparambil (Roy) and Antony Anup Scaria (Anoop) decided to organise a beach festival with a programme at the

Fort Kochi beach Fort Kochi beach is a beach along the Arabian Sea situated in Fort Kochi in the city of Kochi in South India, Kerala state. Points of interests Unique views and point of interests are the so-called Chinese fishing nets (''Cheena vala'', Malay ...

to celebrate the signing of a UN proclamation mandating 1985 as the

International Youth Year The year 1985 was proclaimed by the United Nations as the International Youth Year (IYY). It was held to focus attention on issues of concern to and relating to youth. The proclamation was signed on January 1, 1985, by United Nations Secretary Gen ...

. They were supported by 150 youth groups of various clubs and organizations. Some of the other names associated with the first Carnival are Nirmal John Augustine, Radha Gomathi and

Abul Kalam Azad (photographer) Abul Kalam Azad (born 24 September 1964) is a noted contemporary Indian photographer. Abul's photographic works are predominantly autobiographical and expose the areas of politics, culture, contemporary history, gender and eroticism. His works ...

, who later became an active member of the team and has many images from the first carnival, that are being archived by Ekalokam Trust for Photography. This program started during the second week of December 1984 with a cycle race followed by other local ethnic games like

kabaddi Kabaddi is a contact team sport. Played between two teams of seven players, the objective of the game is for a single player on offence, referred to as a "raider", to run into the opposing team's half of the court, touch out as many of their ...

, tug of war, kalari, kuttiyum kolum, Kalam Vara (floor drawing) etc. The event ended on 1 January 1985 with a procession with a massive rally including caparisoned elephants accompanied by Panchavadyam, called ‘Carnivale Cochin’. Gradually, it took the form of what is today called the Cochin Carnival.

Highlights

Papanhi

Papanhi is a giant statue of an old man. Papanhi is burned exactly at stroke of midnight signifies the end of a passing year and welcome New Year. This symbolises the burning of all the ills and beginning on a new note. This is followed by gala party with dance and music till morning. The origin of this custom remains ambiguous. Before this became a part of the Carnival, the local clubs had Papanhi festivities all over the area. It merged with the carnival and the legend too grew. The resembles Santa Claus. Over a period of time, the effigy of Santa started being burnt, however, was rectified afterwards.

References

{{reflist Festivals in Ernakulam district Annual events in India Tourist attractions in Kochi Culture of Kochi January events December events

History

Highlights

Papanhi

See also

References