Onam celebrations across School

Onam is a harvest festival celebrated by the people of Kerala. It continues for eight days and during the period, jomes in Kerala are dressed in flowers.  On thw occasion, everyone wears new clothes, discards old earthenware and replaces it with new ones. The significance of this tradition is that this is a sign of welcoming positivity in the home, which attracts Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and abundance.

The Onam celebrations start off with a grand procession at Thrippunithura near Kochi called Atthachamayam. The parade features decorated elephants marching to drum beats and people dressed in colourful clothes and masks and joyfully sing and dance with the parade.

People also craft the flower Rangoli called Pookkalam, with yellow flowers and the design is only one circular layer, keeping it simple yet beautiful. Statues or figurines of Mahabali and Vamana are also installed at the entrance of each home on this day.

Traditional dance forms including Thiruvathira, Kummattikali, Pulikali, Thumbi Thullal, Onam Kali , and others, and classical dances like Kathakali and Mohiniattam are performed widely on the occasion.

The Indian School -Second Shift celebrated Onam with great zeal. The students of classes 3 to 5 engaged in various activities. The students made beautiful floral and colour rangolis.

The boat race being another tradition practised during Onam, the students of class 3 and 4 made colourful paper boats and replicated the ritual with these!

Just the way people decorate their homes, the students of classes 4 and 5 made beautiful Onam greeting cards and decorated the class boards with them.

The students of class 5 were also familiarised with the dance forms of Kerala through PowerPoint presentations.

In all, it was a great experience for the students as they celebrated the festivities of Onam, in great enthusiasm.