MUSCAT: The scent of flowers and banquet of multi-course vegetarian feast fill homes, hotels and halls across Oman as thousands of Malayalis celebrate Onam, the Indian state of Keralam’s harvest festival, on Wednesday.
From Muscat and Suhar to Salalah and Nizwa, associations and other groups are hosting three days of cultural programmes, competitions, and the traditional Onam sadhya — a feast of up to 26 dishes served on banana leaves
The celebrations of Onam are not away from their Omani brethren. Malayalis who celebrate Onam invite Omani colleagues and friends to their homes as well as to the community halls where Onam is taking its full shape. Several Omani officials and business leaders attend events as guests of honour, underscoring the long ties between Oman and Keralam, rooted in centuries of maritime trade.
“What attracts me the most is the teamwork, efforts and the unity among those celebrate in making the sadya possible and the floral carpet which are the epitomes of togetherness,” says Adhil Said Ajham Fadhil, many of whose staff members celebrate Onam and he is supposed to be attending half a dozen of events these days.
At the Malayalam Wing and the Kerala Wing under the Indian Social Club in Muscat and the Palakkad friends, the centrepiece is a massive pookalam, a floral carpet made of marigold, rose, and hibiscus petals, spanning several feet. Children in kasavu sarees and mundu perform Thiruvathira and Kaikottikali before pookalams or floral carpets.
“Working here for 18 years, Onam is the one day we all meet as one family,” said Arun Melethil, a film-maker and a private sector employee. “We may be far from Keralam, but with the pookalam, the sadhya, and the songs, it feels exactly like home.”
The elaborate food, also known as sadhya, is the heart of all celebrations. Volunteers spend hours preparing varieties like avial, thoran, olan and different types of payasams (desserts). Most associations offer free sadhya while hotels and restaurants compete with each other to offer the best sadya.
For one day, the distance between Muscat and Keralam felt a lot smaller.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
