Onam- The Secular Festival of Kerala

Onam is the festival of Kerala. This is one festival that is celebrated by everyone irrespective of their religion. A lot has been written by the festival of Onam but in the current scenario all remains nothing but nostalgia. Hence to let the current generation know, I am planning to do a series on Onam festival starting from Atham till Thiruvonam for the next 10 days.

Atham is the first day of Onam. On this day the celebrations start from Thripunithura where the Athachamayam procession takes place. It is a musical and artistic extravaganza. Thousands of performers from all over Kerala together give a memorable experience to the viewers. A few glimpses of the Athachamayam this year follows.

On the first day, the flower carpet a.k.a pookalam is devoid of flowers, contrary to the general belief. On Atham day the area of the courtyard where the flower carpet is to be placed will be smeared with cowdung. A cowdung ball will be placed in the center. A stalk of Thumba( Leucas zeylanica ) , Mukooty ( Biophytum sensitivum, also known as little tree plant ) and Tulsi (Basil) all with the flowers will be plunged to the cowdung ball. No other flowers would be placed on the first day

The 10 days of Onam is a cleansing process for the #mind of the people of Kerala. More about the festival comes in the following days

That’s it for the first day. Will meet you all for on the second day. ie. Chithira

I am taking my blog to the next level with Blogchatter’s #MyFriendAlexa. Writing hashtag is #scrutiny and reading hashtag is #mind