Onam celebrations bring glitter at Sanskrit varsity

Tirupati: Kerala students studying at National Sanskrit University, Tirupati have celebrated the popular festival Onam with pomp and gaiety on Monday. Flower rangolis called as 'Pookalam' and other traditional festivities have brought cheer in the campus in which the students from other states also took part with enthusiasm.

Kerala students studying in the university wore traditional attire and decorated the academic building with flower rangoli apart from other attractions. They decide different themes each year while this time a combination of two art forms of Kerala 'Kathakali' and 'Theyyam' were presented in the Pookalam.

The pilgrim city celebrates Onam in a grand manner every year as it has a sizable number of Malayalis. An association named as 'Kerala Samajam' was also formed which organise several programmes. Normally, they celebrate the festival for 10 days which brings out the best of Kerala culture and tradition and the highlight would be the flower decorations.

Onam, the official state festival of Kerala is considered the harvest festival and is celebrated to welcome the King Mahabali, who they adore as a lovable king. They believe that the King comes every year from 'Pathalam' to where he was pushed out by Vamana, the incarnation of Lord Vishnu. According to mythology, Vamana granted Mahabali a boon, by which he could visit again, once every year, the lands and people he previously ruled. This revisit marks the Onam festival. The occasion was inaugurated at the National Sanskrit University by the Registrar Commander Challa Venkateshwar Sharma which was followed by 'Thiruvathira Kali, one of the traditional dance forms performed in Kerala.

Groups of up to eight or ten women are seen dressed in traditional Kerala attire, dancing in a circle and their graceful movements were both enchanting and elegant.

Then the students performed the traditional folk song sung during the boat race called as Vanchipaattu while the rhythmic lines combined with beats and splashes on water give a synchronic treatment that energizes the race.

Prof Radhagovind Tripathy, Prof Unnikrishnan Nampityathiri and several other faculty and students were also present on the occasion.