Photo: Thrissur Pooram Festival

The heart in your throat bus ride, it's 110 degrees, the smell of incense and jasmine wafting through the air, swarms of people, fifteen beautifully adorned elephants march side by side, the steady jingle from their oversized anklets, the beat of ceremonial drums, the subtle unease knowing 8 people died the day before from a fireworks malfunction. This is the Thrissur Pooram Festival in the town of Thrissur, a few hours north of Cochin. One of the largest Hindu Festivals in all of India.