ONAM Festival

The composite and rich cultural heritage of India preserved in one splendid location with around 4.5 lakh population cannot be witnessed in any part of the country. This is notably visible only in this sacred land of mother Indian – the Andaman and Nicobar Islands aptly described as ‘Mini India’   Almost every festival of India is celebrated with traditional gaiety and fervor in this remotest part of India without any dent in the cultural fabric, setting a perfect example to be emulated by the rest of the country. Kerala Samajam, Port Blair preserves the traditionalism of the festival Onam by organizing cultural programmes and ‘Ona-Sadhya’ every year. This year too, the Kerala Samajam will be organizing various activities to mark the occasion. Grand lunch called ‘Sadhya’ on Thiruonam will be served at the Samajam premises in the afternoon. Traditional dances likes Thruvathirakal will form part of a cultural programme to be organized. Onam is one of the several festivals celebrated here in the Islands and an insight into its history will give an overview of the occasion. Onam is one of the most popular regional festivals of Kerala and is celebrated by all Keralites regardless of their caste or religion. People rejoice the return of King Mahabali, the kid demon king who once ruled the land. The festival is celebrated in Kerala every year for ten days which comes in the Malayalam month of Chingam (end of August and start of September). This festival is also a harvest festival. People decorate their homes with fresh flower mats known as ‘Pookalam’ to welcome King Mahabali.