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Keralites celebrate Vishu with traditional gaiety

ABU DHABI — Malayalees in the UAE celebrated Vishu, the New Year day of the people of the south Indian state of Kerala, yesterday with traditional gaiety by arranging ritualistic functions and feasts at their homes.

The expatriates greeted each other and their relatives back home through SMSes, emails and FM and television channels.

Like many Indian festivals, Vishu is also associated with the harvest season.

Keralites believe they must begin the day by having sumptuous feast for their eyes with items marking prosperity, happiness, rejuvenation and the nature's fertility.

Hindus arrange the 'Vishukkani' by placing auspicious items like paddy, rice, gold ornaments, coins, new cloth, yellow cucumber, betel leaves, coconuts, arecanuts, fruits and flowers on a plantain leaf in a copper plate.

Yellow is the predominant texture of the Vishukkani and the 'kanikonna' flower is the most important flower in the arrangements.

The oil-dipped wicks placed on coconut halves in the Vishu Kani were lit in the wee hours by the older members of the family. The other members were woken up and guided to the Vishukkani blindfolded and allowed to see the arrangement first thing in the morning.

Many families in Abu Dhabi arranged Vishukkani despite the fact that the cost of most of the ingredients had gone up.

"This Vishu was one of the costliest we ever had. Every item was very costly.

“The plantain leaf was priced at about Dh3, the Kanikonna Dh38 per kilogram, and rice about Dh85 per bag. The price of coconut had also gone up.

“Still we arranged the Vishukkani, though we couldn't get all the ingredients," said T. P. Gangadharan, a Keralite working in Abu Dhabi.