The Uthralikkavu festival is conducted during early summer every year. The festival flag-hoisting (koTiyEtam ??????????) takes place on the second Tuesday of Kumbha (????????), the month of the Malayalam Kollam era. (This is the same day that another important local festival, Machadu Mamankam(??????? ????????), takes place. Towards the end of following seven days, on next Tuesday, as part of the valedictory functions, the actual Pooram is conducted.
Pooram is a Kerala Hindu ritual festival in which generally caparisoned elephants are led in a controlled and organized procession. At Uthralikkavu Pooram, three teams, each from neighboring village temples Enkakkad, Kumaranellur and Wadakanchery participate. Each team normally presents seven to eleven elephants, all decorated with traditional trunk masks (netippaTTam ?????????????), shields (aalavaTTam???????) and fans(veNchaamaram ????????). The elephant positioned at the middle will also have a large plaque (thiTamp ??????? or kOlam ????)on its top which represents the deity. There are many festivals in kerala used to celebrate like this. Some of them are Thrissur Pooram, Nenmara Vallangi Vela, Arattupuzha pooram, chinakathur pooram etc.
Apart from the elephant procession, at Uthralikkavu, there also held are Kuthira Vela (a procession with wooden horse) and a variety of such other events dedicated by various communities. One of the crucial components of pooram is the set of percussion orchestra (Panchavadyam, Melam etc.). Particularly, 'naTappura' (???????) panchavadyam is a noteworthy session of percussion performance by the leading Panchavadyam artists of Central Kerala.
Fireworks
It is the second biggest fireworks after Nenmara Vallangi Vela. The most spectacular show during the Pooram is the magnificent and thunderous fireworks that takes place during the early morning hours of succeeding day (typically at 4:00 am). The fireworks is of a class of its own among such fireworks shows of Kerala temple festivals. The peculiar landscape (of being a low valley surrounded by many hills) adds extra reverberation and reinforcement to the already well-engineered explosive sounds produced. The show is enjoyed by tens of thousands of people gathered from various parts of the state. Nenmara Vallangi Vela is also celebrated like poorams and it is famous for the fireworks (Vedikkettu).
