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Labour of love: 85-year-old Sreedharan Nair is responsible for making the family's serving of Payasam
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THE month of Chingam in the Malayalam calendar brings about lots of merrymaking for the people of Kerala, India as they celebrate the Thiru Onam festival. Chingam is the first month of the Malayalam calendar.
The 10-day long celebration is marked with gaiety with plenty to eat, boat racing, singing and dancing, squeals of laughter and shouts of merriment. Many traditional art forms like Kathakali, Kaikottikali, Kummattikali, Pulikali and Theyya-tam are showcased at the Onam celebration especially in Kerala.
The celebration is pretty much scaled down in Malaysia but the spirit of Onam is very much alive in each Malayalee home. Malayalees in Malaysia celebrate Onam today and for most of them, it is about feasting on an elaborate meal (Onasadya) of 16 vegetarian dishes, getting together with family and friends and donning on new clothes.
The celebration begins with a refreshing bath in the morning and accepting new clothes from the eldest member of the family. Some offer prayers in the morning or pay a visit to the temple.
For the Nair family in Taman Sungai Jelok, Kajang, it’s 85-year-old Sreedharan Nair who distributed new clothes to his family.
The Malayalee women wear the Settu Mundu – a two-piece off white clothing that looks very much like a saree when tied. The body of the Settu Mundu is off white and is enhanced with a colourful border that can be green, red, maroon or gold. The blouse is sewn to match the border of the Settu Mundu. Once dressed in their new clothes, everyone sat down to enjoy breakfast which varied from one home to the other but Subhadra Sreedharan Nair, 75 stuck to preparing tosai or idli for her hungry kin. Some families go to the trouble of preparing the Pookalam, a flower carpet fashioned entirely out of colourful flowers at the entrance of the home.
“It was said that King Mahabali ruled Kerala for a long time. “He was a good king who looked after his subjects. “The people believe that during Onam, the King returns to Kerala to pay a visit to his people,” Renu said.
“Onam is also a harvest festival and we celebrate the bountiful harvest the land gives to the farmers,” she said.
Onam, Renu said was a festival that helped maintain traditions, instil cultural values and beliefs in the younger generation. “The peace, happiness and bond that we feel during Onam certainly upholds our identity and connects us back to our roots,” she said.
