Onam

♪ മാവേലി നാടു വാണീടും കാലം

മാനുഷരെല്ലാരുമൊന്നു പോലേ

ആമോദത്തോടെ വസിക്കും കാലം

ആപത്തംഗാർക്കുമൊട്ടില്ല താനും

കള്ളവുമില്ല ചതിയുമില്ലാ

എള്ളോളമില്ലാ പൊളി വചനം ♪

Onam is the official festival of Kerala, celebrated in remembrance of king Mahabali and his prosperous reign in the state. It is a rice-harvest festival commemorated by Malayalis around the world with much zest and fervor. The carnival of Onam, which spans a duration of 10 days stands as a hallmark of Kerala's culture and tradition. 

I'm not particularly inclined towards the grand festivities of Onam. I'm more interested in watching people have fun adorned in varieties of sarees, mundus, pattupavadas and kuppivalas(glass bangles). It surely is a feast to the eyes as sadya is to the belly. The ethereal scent of mullapoo(jasmine) enhances the beauty of the festival. People unite in the lively colors of the Athapookalam, and the spark of celebration shines on their faces. Everything and everybody look gracious with a light dab of yellow chandanam (sandalwood) on their foreheads.

Onam celebrations from my school days are the ones I fondly remember. There used to be individual Pookalam competitions in my first school. As exciting as it was, I used to place the flowers incorrectly every year. I obviously don't have a knack for arranging Pookalams. Special mention goes to Onam celebrations of 8th and 11th grade. I was part of the school Thiruvathira team and thoroughly enjoyed playing it. Grade 12 Onam was amazing as well, even though it was online because of the pandemic.  

Onam 2019

Above all things, Onasadya is what really brings everyone together. It consists of over 25 Kerala dishes and what I love most about it is that it's entirely vegetarian. Rice, sambar(stew), rasam(soup), avial, erissery, pulissery, puli inji (ginger curry), kaalan, thoran, mulaku kondattam (salted curd chili), pavakka kondattam (sun dried bitter gourd), chammanthi, chammanthi podi, pazham(banana), pappadam, upperi, sharkara varatti (banana candy), mezhukkupuratti, achaar(pickle) - all in a vazha ela (banana leaf). My favorite is payasam (my mother's semiya(vermicelli pudding), my grandmother's parippu (dal payasam) and my aunt's chowari/sabudana (tapioca pearls pudding)) which is served as a dessert after the wholesome meal. The last spoonful of payasam captures the ultimate essence of the sadya's flavors. Ah! Let me get into the next paragraph before I start drooling all over. 

Pulikali, vallamkali(boatrace), kathakali, vadamvali(tug of war), malayali manka and kerala sreeman, chendamelam and onapaatu(songs) are some fun-filled Onam activities and art-forms, that has been passed on through generations. The melodious flute notes of an Onam song echo in my head as I write this. 

I was initially hesitant on writing about Onam, but doing it proved to be both deeply gratifying and heart wrenching, like the sadya. May the spirit of Onam bring joy, harmony and prosperity to all!

ഓണാശംസകൾ🌼

This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon 2023.

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