Colourful Indian festival is underway (From Malvern Gazette)

Colourful Indian festival is underway

4:52pm Friday 12th September 2008 in News By Sue Vickers

THE colour and culture of Southern India were part of Onam Festival celebrations in Malvern today (Friday).

A scented carpet of flowers was the centrepiece for this Indian Harvest festival which was being celebrated by Mayaylee-speaking families from Malvern.

Wearing jewel-coloured traditional Indian dress the families marked this cultural festival from their homeland with an Onam party at the Octagon centre, enjoying a traditional vegetarian feast, music and games.

“It’s a festival for everyone, a very special time of year. In India it signals the beginning of Spring and we celebrate with food and flowers,” explained Paul Thellappillil, one of the organisers.

He said the cultural festival, which in Kerala in Southern India lasts for ten days, involves a traditional feast, family get-togethers, gifts, dancing and sports such as boat races and tug of war. He said it was celebrated in India by people from all communities, both Hindu and Christian.

Around 15 Malvern families took part in the celebrations, which started with the arrival of one of the men dressed up as an ancient Indian king. The festival celebrates the homecoming of this king with the creation of a pookkalam, or carpet of flowers.

Sheeba Thomas, who helped to make the pookkalam for the party in Malvern, said it was made with individual flower petals and took seven people around two hours.

A many-course feast served on banana leaf plates is part of the Onam festival and although this was part of the celebrations in Malvern artificial banana leaves had to be used.

Councillor Joe Smith and Rev. Father Patrick Kilgarriff were guests at the celebrations.