Hyderabad: Time has brought about its own changes to many traditional festivals. Still, Malayalis prefer to stick to their traditions, particularly for this festival, which is their state festival, where all participate, irrespective of caste, religion, or class. In Kerala, the celebrations are for 10 days, starting from Atham (1st day) to the culminating day (10th day) and the most important — Thiruvonam.
Outside Kerala, it extends to weeks and sometimes to the next month, depending on the weekends, where associations can include more people for the celebration.
Likewise, in Hyderabad, eight associations have conducted their Onam festivities involving hundreds of Malayalis living here. Devarajan K.V., who is the national general council member of All India Malayali Association, has been living in Hyderabad for 21 years with his family, says that though the Pookkalam (floral design) replaced wild flowers with those from the market, the family members still try to have the Sadya (vegetarian feast) together at home
“We come from Parassinikkadavu in Kannur district, where wild flowers were aplenty on the open fields. Coming from joint families, many children go out together to pluck the flowers for the next day. Children from the neighbourhood also join them, and they walk around searching for flowers, singing special Onam songs. Thumba was the main element of the Pookkalam, along with Arippoo and Thottavadi.”
When the generation changed to his children — daughter Varsha Devaraj, who works at Amazon, and son Vaishnav Devaraj, an engineering graduate, the celebrations are confined to lunch together at home, hanging around with friends, taking reels and selfies.
Nowadays, plastic pookkalams are also available online, but not many have started using them here. Flower vendors in the city also almost ran out of flowers, especially jasmine, as women prefer to decorate their plaits with them. In many apartments, Pookkalams are made together or in groups. Some are conducting competitions for making Pookkalam.
Deeja Satish, from Thalassery in Kannur, came to Hyderabad 20 years ago, soon after her marriage. For her, preparing food and sharing it among the community is the greatest part of the festival to her. “In our building in Mallapur, from every flat, they prepare a particular dish and then bring them together to one apartment, and all of them have the feast together.
“One inevitable part of Thiruvonam is a visit to the temple. Most of us bring special Kerala handloom saris (cream with golden border) and dhotis, for such special festivals and wear them to the temples. Though such dresses are available in stores here, the quality and price differ,” she said.
At Guruvayur temple in Amberpet, a huge Pookkalm spread in front of the Krishna idol is a special sight for the devotees. They also conduct Thiruvathirakkali (a traditional dance in Kerala) and children play on the swings. Ayyappa Devasthanam joint secretary K. Sadasivan said that as the years go by, the number of devotees visiting the temple has increased, especially during festivals like Onam and Vishu.
“A small place in the Railway Quarters with a photograph of Ayyappa in 1980, was later shifted to a proper temple building here in 1985 by the Ayyappa Bhaktha Samajam. The priests Krishna Prasad and Praveen Bhatt are also Malayalis,” Sadasivan said.
Though the elders with families prefer to stay back in Hyderabad and celebrate Onam, the bachelors are keen to go to their native and spend time with their families and friends. Arun Kumar C.S. from Guruvayur left for Kerala on Thursday by bus as trains are very less to the north side of the state from Hyderabad.
Those who find it difficult to prepare the nearly 20 different types of dishes for Thiruvonam prefer to book at the Kerala restaurants here. Khalidfrom Kozhikode, owner of Kerala Kitchen in West Marredpally, has been selling Onam kits for 15 years. This year, he included 26 dishes in the kit at `600 and more than 1,000 kits were sold.
