Sunday, August 23, 2009

Atham

Today is a very special day.
Today is Ganesh Chaturthi, the festival of Lord Ganesha.
Today is also Atham, the day that signifies the beginning of Onam, the most important festival of Keralites. The ten-day countdown to Thiruonam(Sep 2) begins today.

Next Sunday, I travel to Kerala to be part of the celebrations!

4 comments:

  1. For a bunch of flower petals, it looks AMAZING! And what a wonderful festival season you're having (A very dear friend of mine from Sri Lanka has opend us to so much culture from the regions of India, Sri Lanka and so on, I must visit it one day!)

    Tanya has sent me back this weekend, but don't be surprised if I pop over through the week!!!

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  2. I never cease to be amazed by the time commitment and attention to detail these artists display.

    I'll look forward to your pix from Kerala.

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  3. Peg, this "floral carpet" is something that every Keralite creates patiently during the ten days of Onam. (Perhaps owing to other pressures and commitments, nowadays people reduce it to one day - Thiruonam - which falls this year on Sep 2). The first day the pookalam is quite small, and every day flowers are added till the tenth day, when (as per legend) King Mahabali is believed to arrive to see his citizens!

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