CELEBRATIONS GALORE !!!

It is going to be a week of celebrations now…So my next post may take a few days , as I would be busy partaking in the celebrations ! Now , you might want to know what the festivities are all about…So let me , enlighten you about the main events that I am waiting to dive into…..:)

 

FIRSTLY , it is my ‘BIRTHDAY’ today……Well , I know it doesn’t mean much to most of you ,especially to those are not familar with me in anyway…But I believe , that one must share ones joys ,in order to double them…..And I am excited today…in fact, I still feel like a 9 year old , who waits for her birthday the whole year, just so that she gets to cut the cake and distribute candies in school…Well I am no longer entitled to the latter, but  I still get to cut the cake  , even though the number of candles have crossed thirty this year !!!

My heart still flutters , at the prospect of a gift !! YOU ARE NEVER TOO OLD FOR GIFTS !!! What I also love about this day is also the ‘n’ number of b’day wishes and greetings one gets on this day….Thanks to the social networking sites and applications like WHATSAPP , you feel as though all your friends and family have come together ,under one roof to wish you on your ‘special day’ !

SECONDLY , the festival of  ‘Onam‘ has arrived in KERALA .  ACCORDING TO WIKEPEDIA,  ‘Onam’  is a festival celebrated by all people of Kerala, India.^[1] It is a harvest festival . The celebrations of Onam start on Atham day, 10 days before Thiruvonam. The 10 days are part of the traditional Onam celebrations and each day has its own importance in various rituals and traditions.

The festival falls during the Malayalam month of Chingam (Aug – Sep) and marks the commemoration of Vamana avatara of Vishnu and the subsequent homecoming of the mythical King Mahabali who Malayalees consider as their King.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE LEGEND , PLEASE CLICK THE FOLLOWING LINK : 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onam#The_legend

In Kerala, it is the festival celebrated with most number of cultural elements such as  snake boat race ,  pulli kali ( in which people paint their faces like tiger and dance to the music ), pookalam ( flower carpet ,which is made by the ladies of the household in front of their house , throughout the whole week till the final day- thirvonam ! ) and most importantly , ‘onam sadhya ‘ ( or feast on plantain leaf , consisting of about 26 dishes ).

Kerala , Nehru trophy boat race

Pulikali ( dance of the tigers ! )

my daughter when she was one and half , standing to devour the ‘onam sadya’ ( feast )

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ladies dress up in their traditonal attire of ‘KERALA KASAVU SAREE’ ….

So as you can see ,Onam is a ‘festival of fun ,food and flowers’………..A time for rejoicing and putting on ‘new clothes or ‘onakodi’ ( which is most often gifted by the elders in the family ! )

 

‘HAPPY ONAM’ ALL OF YOU 🙂

Will come back with more pictures of my personal celebrations soon….so stay connected 🙂