3,500 feast at Indian Social Centre’s grand Onam celebration

Abu Dhabi - The venue witnessed a sea of women in traditional Kerala kasavu sarees and men in mundu.

 As many as 3,500 people celebrated Onam with its accompanying sadhya at the Indian Social and Cultural Centre, making it a grand success.
The venue witnessed a sea of women in traditional Kerala kasavu sarees and men in mundu. The sadhya or feast, held to celebrate the Keralite festival, started as early as 11.30am on Friday.
“We were expecting this turnout and started the feast early,” ISC general manager Tommy Miller said. The sadhya was prepared under the supervision of chief cook Pramod, who flew in from Kerala especially for the event.
About 150 volunteers ensured that the event proceeded smoothly.
“All the preparations started from Thursday. We had the chief cook from Palakkad district, but all the vegetable cutting was done by the local volunteers; it was a big exercise,” Prasanna, an ISC member, said
ISC’s music wing kept the crowd entertained throughout the event, with evergreen Malayalam melodies.
There was also a ‘pookalam’ or floral carpet competition in the morning. Sreedevi Hari and team won the top prize for their pookalam depicting the mythical King Mahabali.
ISC president M Thomas Varghese and general secretary John P Varghese opened the proceedings by lighting the traditional lamp.
The feast also marked the start of three-month long Onam celebrations in the Capital. From now on, every Thursday and Friday will see one or the other community group holding feasts and cultural events to mark the time honoured harvest festival.
ashwani@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi