My little snippets of Onam

Onam , my favourite festival of them all . I love the togetherness it brings and also the true  beauty of Kerala. All of us change with time but  the one thing change cannot conquer is our very own Onam and it’s celebrations . On this day it is believed that our mythical king Mahabali  visits the land he once ruled  . Wearing mundum neriyathum ( traditional clothing of women in Kerala – men wear mundu and shirt/kurtas )and making Pookalams ( floral carpet ) on our frontyards we await his arrival . Vallam kali ( boat race ) , puli kali ( play of the tigers ), thiruvathira (traditional dance of women ),thumbithullal, onapaatt ( traditonal songs ) and other traditional forms of recreation lies at the heart of the ten plus two days that comprises Onam .We also have the tradition of gifting each other new clothes . As kids we used to wait for Onam mainly because our dad took us on a shopping spree 😉 . Now the reasons are more personal .

It was Thiruvonam yesterday and our first after marriage hence very special . I made the sadhya ( feast ) , okay  I did get help from my dearest husband and father -in-law   😉  . Being away from Kerala I did miss the real celebrations though. So I was sent these little snippets so that I could enjoy the flavours of Onam every bit . And I would love to share them with you all .

This is the Pookalam made at home 🙂 My mother wearing Mundum neriyathum .

Okay little change did happen after all 😦 , before we made the floral carpets with flowers plucked from our own houses but now we buy them mostly .

Some more Pookalams came my way , here they are

( my aunt made this little Pookalam , she is wearing traditional Kerala Saree too )

( my sister send this ,Pookalam  at her college)

 

( my friend’s Pookalam at her workplace )

And for more love I got these  🙂

(my brother having sadhya )

( my aunt and uncle  in traditional Kerala attire 🙂 )

( my niece wearing traditional Pattu paavada ) . Ain’t she  beautiful ??? 🙂

 

And finally my favourite part 🙂 this is our  Onasadhya ( feast ) . It was delicious 😛 . Although the plaintain leaf was supposed to be fresh and green , we could manage only these slightly yellowed ones 😦 . I guess the food made up for all that . At the end of the day there were three happy people !!!