Onam celebrations on September 5

A festival for feasting, revelry and boat races, Onam is celebrated by Malayalees from all walks of life transcending barriers of religion, caste or creed. In the UAE, which has a large population of Malayalee expatriates, Onam calls for a special celebration as Malayalees get together to recreate the magic of Onam away from their homeland.

Among the Malayalee associations that are involved in making the event a special one this year is the All-Kerala Colleges Alumni Forum, Bhavana Arts Society, Dubai Arts Lovers Association, Dubai Kairali Kala Kendram, Dubai Priyadarshini, Emirates Arts Centre and Indian Arts Society and the Indian Cultural Association.

The festivities will start at 8am with a floral decoration competition in which all the eight associations will vie for the trophies. Nearly 300kg of flowers will be flown in from Kerala and this will be supplemented with additional flowers and green leaves.

Apart from the competition, the main Pookalam or the floral carpet will be laid out inside the Ice rink by the Indian Association members. Measuring 4 inches by 12 inches, the carpet will have a central pookalam circular in shape and the participants of the competition will have to complete the floral decoration by 9am.

The festivities will begin with the arrival of the chief guest. Cultural processions with caparisoned elephant, umbrellas, Panchavadyam, Kavadi, Karagattom and Oneswaram will lead the guest of honour to the stage for inauguration. Cultural programmes by local artistes from the eight associations will go on until 3-30pm. Traditional folk dances, classical, and semi-classical and cinematic dances will also be presented by children.

Onasadya or the traditional Onam lunch is a very important part of the celebrations and this year the Indian Association will fly in four chefs from Trivandrum for preparing lunch for more than 3,500 people. The lunch will be served in the traditional way with plantain leaves along with parippu, sambhar, pulisseri, rasam, thoran, koottukari, avial, pachadi, kichadi, pickles, pappadum and payasam.

The evening programme will start with Panchavadyam by the local artistes followed by a musical programme by reputed singers Madhu Balakrsihnan and Jolsna who will be supported by Reemi Tomy and Rajesh along with a 12-member orchestra.

Admission to the event will be against tickets. For further information, please contact Indian Association Dubai at 3511082 or any of the Malayalee associations.