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Thursday, August 27, 2015

2015 Onam Celebrations Friday August 28,2015

Onam is a festival that celebrates the annual visit of the mythical king Mahabali who once ruled the modern day Kerala. Every year, in honour of the King, thousands of Malayalis across the world get together to celebrate in all grandeur. Food is usually the centre of all celebrations. The festival also showcases the bountiful harvest of the region, and the locals enjoy four days of state holiday and an overall 10 days of ongoing celebrations. From traditional dance, music performances, snake boat races to thorough cleaning, decoration of houses and of course, cooking elaborate meals - there is a sea of activities that are carried out as a way to commemorate the festival




 Clothing 

Onam celebrations are incomplete without wearing the traditional outfits. Set or kesav sarees (white sarees with golden border) for women and mundu (white dhoti with golden border) for men.


The decorations, Athapookolam


Onam festivities also call for house cleaning and decorations. You will not find a single Malayali household without flower arrangements, also known as athapoo. They are beautifully created on the floor outside the houses and are similar to rangolis
There are many athapoo making competition held during this period.
 
 





Onam festivities also include other activities such as traditional dance performances like 

Pulikali


Kaikottikali


Kathakkali

 Kummati Kali


 Apart from these, there are a series of snake boat races (Vallamkali) that are organized. 

Some people also sing traditional Onam songs, called Onappatt

The Grand Meal, Onasadhya

2-onam-2015 
 
Onasadhya is one of the most essential features of the festival. Meticulously prepared and even fastidiously plated, the entire arrangement exhibits a potpourri of different flavours - from sweet and salty to sour and spicy. There are papadams, sweet and sour pickles, tangy pachadis, dal preparations, spicy curries and of course, payasams and Ada pradhaman for dessert.

 

The plating of Onam Sadhya starts with the banana leaf which is always positioned with its tapering end facing towards the left. Essentially, you have eight different kinds of preparations - dals, curries, pickles, pachadis, payasams, rice and so on - with each having multiple variants served on your plate." In olden times all eight preparations had up to eight different varieties served for Sadhya, making it to a grand total of 64 delectable dishes on your banana leaf

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