Madhya Pradesh shines in the glory of ‘ONAM’ amid covid pandemic

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan greets on Onam

August 2021: Malayalis all over the world celebrate Onam today. It is the second Onam celebration amid the Covid pandemic. Onam is considered as a harmonious festival that erases all the boundaries drawn by religion, caste and creed. But this onam is celebrated within the houses as the threat of covid still presists. Even though the celebrations have been limited this year, in the hearts of Malayalis Onam has not lost its glory.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh said “It is a matter of happiness that Onam festival is being celebrated virtually on 21st August this year with various cultural programs by “United Malayalee Association”, a leading Malayalee association of the city. Onam is the state festival of Kerala. It is a festival of happiness, peace and brotherhood. This festival is celebrated in memory of the days when King Mahabali ruled in Kerala. It is believed that every year on this day King Mahabali comes to his kingdom to meet his people. On this day the people of Kerala decorate their homes, put on new clothes, prepare dishes and welcome their king Mahabali (Maveli) with great enthusiasm and joy. On this auspicious occasion of Onam, I extend my warm greetings to all Keralites.

Malayalis never fail to enjoy Onam day wherever they are. Massive celebrations and competitions are absent this Onam, still happiness and prosperity visit in each house on this Onam day. United Malayalee Association, a prominent socio-cultural organization of the city,  celebrated the festival of Onam.   Most of the activities were held online and people participated enthusiastically.   Floral rangoli or  Athapookalam   were laid at different places.  The main celebration was held at Indira Gandhi Rashtriya ManavSangrahalaya.   The visit of Mahabali arrived at the IGRMS and witnessed different traditional art forms associated with the onam festival which were presented by the youngsters of the Association.  Shri Praveen Kumar Mishra, Director, Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya welcomed Raja Mahabali alongwith other officals and members of the association.  Traditional Dances, ThumbiThullal, Pulikali,Chendamelam etc. were performed.  

O.D. Joseph, President of United Malayalee Association said that “Earlier we used to make the Onam celebration a big event where large gatherings of people from the community and others used to be present and many cultural activities were held.    Since arranging such functions and gathering is not possible, we are opting for the virtual mode of celebration without losing the spirit of the festival.   It is the first time we are celebrating the festival like this and it is unique.  IGRMS has depicted a mini Kerala by keeping the ethnographic objects of Kerala like Snake Boat,  Naalukettu, Aalvilaku etc.  The celebrations had a true feeling of as if we were in Kerala.    Mahabali also made a visit to the upper lake and accepted the greetings of the people.  Apart from this, children performed dances, songs etc. at other places also as a part of this celebration.  The entire celebrations are documented and are telecast through different media platforms so that everybody can enjoy the celebrations”.

The office bearers of the Association – General Secretary K.P. Das,  Vice President Anil P Nair, Arts Secretary  R.S. Pillai, Secretary Byju P George,  Shibu PR, Sunil Kumar,  Manoj Nair, Murali PB,  Mathew MK, Anil Kumar, Valsan, Raji Gopinath, Sudha Pillai, Shammy Harish,  Prasanna, Shymla Somnathan, Leela, Reena &  Saji George  were present on the occasion.