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Malayalis in pilgrim city celebrate Onam
The Malayalis in pilgrim city were in festive mood celebrating the biggest festival ‘Onam’. The festival falls during the Malayalam month of Chingam during August-September. People from various states are residing in Tirupati and engaged in different occupations.
Tirupati: The Malayalis in pilgrim city were in festive mood celebrating the biggest festival ‘Onam’. The festival falls during the Malayalam month of Chingam during August-September. People from various states are residing in Tirupati and engaged in different occupations.
The Malayalis were also in sizeable number in the city. They formed an association called “Kerala Samajam-Tirupati” and organising various programmes.
Highlights:
- Main attraction of the festival is the flower rangolis
- Every family celebrate the festival with joy and enthusiasm, says P Narayanan
The festival lasts for ten days and brings out the best of Kerala culture and tradition. The main attraction of the festival is the flower decorations. Every day, they tastefully decorate their homes with flowers and the 9th and 10th days are considered as the main festival. During those two days, there will be special decorations and flower rangolis.
Onam, considered to be the harvest festival and the official state festival of Kerala, is celebrated by Keralites to welcome the King Mahabali, who they adore as a lovable king. They believe that the King comes every year from ‘Patalam’ 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.
Kerala Samajam president P Narayanan told The Hans India that every Kerala family celebrate the festival with joy and enthusiasm. The association has been organising the programme since many years here. However, for the last four years, it is being organised without fail.
Normally, Malayalis from all places reach Kerala for the main festival. So, the festival will be celebrated by members of the association at a later date usually in October, he averred. For the function, a cook will be called from Kerala to prepare ‘Kerala feast’ which will consist of Avial, Thoran, Kaalan, Olan, Khichdi and Payasam among other varieties.
From this year onwards, the association is planning to organise various programmes on a regular basis. To start with, they are going to conduct Swachh Bharat programme on September 17.
Similarly, Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetham (RSVP) also witness Onam celebrations every year. This year, the students led by their Kerala friends enthusiastically started the celebrations on Wednesday. It will be held for two days. They organised flower rangoli competitions in which many students participated. They conducted several other programmes like tug of war, lemon and spoon etc.
On Thursday also, some more events will be conducted and the winners will be given prizes. The students said there are at least 10 members in the campus from Kerala. However, irrespective of region or religion all the students participate in the celebrations actively which give them immense happiness, said a student.
By V Pradeep Kumar
