Krish @ Sobha Palladian: ONAM @ Sobha Palladian, Sept 2025

We celebrated ONAM in Sobha Palladian on Saturday 13 Sept, 2025.

This was the ninth (9) ONAM festival that we all celebrated in as many years when many of us early settlers moved into our apartments in 2017.

And each year we have seen the events getting better and better and the performance bar getting raised a bit higher each time.

So, this year was no exception – we had the works!

The tall imposing & majestic Mahabali,

The cute little Kathakali,

The elaborately dressed Mohini Attam dancers with brightly mehndi-etched palms and elaborately styled hair knots wrapped in jasmine strands,

The black ‘panchakacham’ (dhoti) clad Kalaripayattu warriors with swords and shields running all around the blocks doing mock fencing with each other,

The Kerala boat men with their spotless white dhotis, bright pink, red and blue shirts brandishing their custom designed paddles made out of thick cardboard and blue mop-stick handles

And the grand finale – the very elaborate and delicious ONAM Sadhya.

And this time we had one interesting dish – Chakka Pradhaman, A payasam made from ripe Jackfruit and jagghery .A dark brown gooey concoction – my first sip, and it assaulted my nose and taste buds with its strong and pungent flavour !!

And the folks danced in abandon in step with the thumping beats of the Chenda quartet.

And our Emcee, Arjun was in his elements with his deep sonorous voice, easy humour & quick wit!

And the ubiquitous & enthusiastic photo sessions capturing the same faces in different groups to preserve these wonderful moments for posterity!

And so predictably the sound system displayed its inconsistent and un predictable nature every now and then and totally wreaking Hari’s soulful rendering of the famous ‘Pramadhavanam’ .

But sadly we missed two classic performances this year – the graceful Thiuvathirakkali dance by Palladian ladies and the vibrant “Jimmikki Kammal” jig by the men folks !! I hope they will return next ONAM.

So here we go …..

Onam is the biggest and the most important festival of the state of Kerala. It is a harvest festival and is celebrated with joy and enthusiasm all over the state by people of all communities. According to a popular legend, the festival is celebrated to welcome King Mahabali, whose spirit is said to visit Kerala at the time of Onam.

We started the day with the traditional Poo Kolam led by veterans Kalai, Ahaana,Prasheeba, Janhavi, Vinaya and Roopa .

A very patient and meticulous process . First a chalk drawing of the borders, then peeling the petals from all the flowers, deciding and finally filling each section with the petals to create a bright and colourful Poo Kolam! The polished Kerala brass lamp adds that extra tradition and sanctity to the Kolam.

Trivia : The Thumbai Poo (Dronapushpi in Sanskrit) is the flower that is most widely used in Poo Kolam..

And ONAM started off with a bang!

The grand entry of King Mahabali.

The Legend of Mahabali.

Story goes that during the reign of mighty asura (demon) king, Mahabali, Kerala witnessed its golden era. Every body in the state was happy and prosperous and king was highly regarded by his subjects. Apart from all his virtues, Mahabali had one shortcoming. He was egoistic.

So Lord Vishnu came in the form of Vamana Avataar and asked the King for 3 paces of land. When the King condescendingly agreed, Vamana grew so big that he took one pace to cover the entire earth, his second pace to cover the entire heavens and then asked the King where he could put his third pace. Kind Mahabali was humbled , realising that Vamana was the Lord himself, he offered his head on which the Lord placed his feet and crushed his ego. However, for all the good deed done by Mahabali, God granted him a boon that he could annually visit his people with whom he was so attached.

It is this visit of Mahabali that is celebrated as Onam every year.

And our own resident Mahabali (with spectacles & without moustache) takes a grand survey of all the five blocks before finally taking his position in front of the clubhouse for a group photo shoot !!

And this was BV Sriraman’s third ‘Maveli’ appearance and he gets better each time !!

Methinks he must consider turning Pro and a career Mahabali. Such opportunity and a wide scope for diversification into a host of other similar Mythological Mahapurushas from our Itihasas and Puranas.

The program started with a melodious song by Swetha Karthik.

The song "Thumbi Vaa" is a beautiful lullaby that praises and invites the beloved to come and join the singer on the swing. A very popular Ilayaraja classic from the Malayalam movie Olangal - a remake of the Hindi movie Masoom.

Kerala = Kathakali.

Getting ready for Kathakali is an arduous task – requiring lots of skill and tons of patience both from performing artist and the make-up artist as well!

And here is Ashvika (the performer) and her mother Swetha taking us through the process of making a Kathakali character.

While Swetha took over the costume and makeup responsibilities , the idea / concept and dance choreography came from Nikita & Niveditha.

Look out for Ashvika’s performance in the coming section!!

And then the children of Sobha Palladian took over the stage and brought to life Kerala’s vibrant art and dance forms.

They performed with both grace and gusto – each performance reflecting a special part of Kerala’s culture—grace, strength, beauty, fun, and drama.

Thiruvathirakkali : A graceful dance traditionally performed around a tall brass amp. The slow and elegant steps symbolize devotion and harmony. The dance I s usually performed by singing praises of Shiva Parvati.

And the star performers were Dhwani, Manvi, Reina, and Laya.

Kalaripayattu : Indian Martial Arts Dance.

Kalaripayattu, Kerala’s ancient martial art form is believed to be one of the oldest in the world. With its leaps, kicks, and weapon techniques, it showcases courage and discipline.

According to legend, Parashurama, the creator of Kerala, is said to be the founder of the martial arts tradition in the region, and who introduced it as a self-defence mechanism for the local people.

Another legend states that when Lord Shiva married Goddess Parvathi at mount Kailasa, the world tilted due to the weight of all the gods and goddesses attending the wedding. To restore the balance, Sage Agastya was sent to the South, where he disseminated a martial art tradition reflecting his strength and meditative power.

And the fierce warriors were Kaira, Aishani, Ameya, and Varnika.

Mohiniattam : The Dance of Mohini.

The dancers take on the role of “Mohini,” graceful and enchanting, with soft music and gentle expressions. Lord Vishnu is said to have adorned the avatar of Mohini (meaning enchantress) in order to distract Asuras during the ‘Sagar Manthan” the churning of ocean and finally during the distribution of Amrut or Amrutam ( the nectar of immortality).

And the four graceful Mohinis were Hitakshi, Miraya, Sahana, and Meehera.

Vallam kali / Boat Race Dance

Onam is never complete without the excitement of the famous snake boat race, Vallamkali. Huge boats, rhythmic rowing, and loud cheering bring entire villages together.

Since we could not divert a river here, the children brought the spirit of Vallamkali alive through a very lively Boat Race Dance!

And the contestants were Prisha, Sitara, Meera, and Sitara.

Kathakali: And finallly, the grand highlight! Kerala’s most iconic art form, Kathakali combines dance, music, and drama with elaborate costumes, striking makeup, and powerful expressions to retell stories from our epics. The traditional themes of the Kathakali are folk stories, religious legends and spiritual ideas from the Hindu epics( Itihasas) and the Puranas.

Kathakali is officially recognized by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

And our star performer was Ashvika !!

And then the Grand Ensemble !!

And Hats Off to this wonderful team !!!

And can you imagine what humongous efforts must have gone into preparing these young children, teaching them dance steps, preparing costumes, dressing them up and making sure they remain properly dressed until their performance.

Must appreciate and applaud the folks behind the scene: Dance choreographed by Nikita and Niveditha & helped by Sowmithri.

And let’s give a loud shout out to all the mothers who designed and made all the costumes and props while still managing their office work, their children, their hubby, the maids, the cooks and everything else.

And I am positive many a husband also contributed significantly by keeping a safe distance away from the action.

And finally the eagerly awaited ONAM Sadya.

Sadya means Banquet in Malayalam and it is a traditional Vegetarian Kerala cuisine served in all special occasions and feasts.

This time we had Red/Matta Rice, White Rice, Parippu Curry (daal), Sambar, Moru(buttermilk) , Rasam, Upperi/Nendran Chips, Inji Puli (ginger chutney), Mango Pickle, Thoran (dry veg curry with coconut), Kalan (sour & spicy yam curry), Olan (light curry with ash gourd, cow peas and coconut milk) , Kootu Curry (mixed veg with gravy), Mezhukupuratti (stir fried veg ), Pulissery (yoghurt based curry like Punjabi Kadi), Aviyal (mixed veg with generous sprinkling of coconut ), Pachadi (south Indian raita without onions), Paal Payasam, Chakka Pradaman & Papadams..

One sumptuous meal = 2300Kcal = 4 to 5 hrs Gym = 10 hrs brisk walking = 3 to 4 hrs swimming = 8 hrs Badminton !

And having complete knowledge of such statistics, I did a leisurely walk around the blocks twicw, went home and crashed on my bed !!

And in summary, ONAM 2025 in SP was a fantastic event , well planned, and executed flawlessly !

And Mary Mathew has summed it up so eloquently …..

We had a great time celebrating Onam at Palladian today. Maveli (King Bali) was quite majestic and sportingly posed with everyone for pictures. Next time he should charge for each photo! The little ones' dances were great and showcased the culture of Kerala. Thanks to the ladies , Nivedita, Nikita and the parents, who painstakingly choreographed and taught the kids so that they could put up a beautiful performance. Swetha and Hari sang Malayalam songs very well. Arjun kept the audience entertained and informed with his quiz about Kerala. The pookalam created by some of our ladies is gorgeous. Thanks to Krish and the others who patiently took the photographs of all the Residents .Last , but not least the Sadya was awesome .

Thanks to the Cultural Committee and other Residents who put in a lot of effort to give us a memorable Onam.