Keralites celebrate Onam

Keralites celebrate Onam
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Onam, the harvest festival of Kerala is now a popular and widely celebrated one in Hyderabad too. Celebrated to honour King Mahabali, a revered and...

Onam, the harvest festival of Kerala is now a popular and widely celebrated one in Hyderabad too. Celebrated to honour King Mahabali, a revered and popular entity, who makes his entry from the underworld and to commemorate the birthday of the deity, Padmanabhan of Thiruvananthapuram, it is a grand spectacle all over Kerala where the festivities are spread over ten days. The Kerala state government has a four-day holiday period declared.

The local Malayalee population left no stone unturned to make the festival a memorable event. Homesick Malayalees, who are sizeable in number, especially in the Secunderabad area like Malkajgiri and Safilguda have made it an annual ritual. Apollo staff also celebrated the festive on a grand note. This year it was made even more colourful by organising the festivities well in advance at Rail Kalarang, Bhoiguda, almost a full week ahead of the actual day which fell on September 16.

With typical Kerala item shops doing brisk business in many corners of the city selling the festival delicacies where the people of God’s Own Country have settled over generations, it was not too uncommon to see locals wishing their ‘Mallu’ friends a happy Onam both offline and online across popular social media platforms. The Onam Sadya, the feast comprising more than a dozen vegetarian dishes was eagerly devoured by the Keralite population and liberally shared with their friends. Pookkolams (flowery decorations in Rangoli format) were a regular sight at many parts of the city and bedecked women, filled with joy and festive flavour were even seen indulging in kaikotti kali (folk dance with rhythmic clapping of hands), heightening the typical mood during the celebrations.
As T N Krishnan, a Malayalee in Hyderabad for over four decades said: ‘It is our best and most eagerly anticipated festival. In our state, it is also the one which is celebrated across religious platforms as it is seen as a state festival rather than a Hindu one’. Tapping the cellphone keypad and wishing fellow state wallahs Onam greetings, he said that it is nice to note that the local youngsters too are getting to know more and more every year about this festival and the flower decorations made by the Keralite women are a great hit with their counterparts in Hyderabad.
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