Happy Onam and bloggie facelift!

Happy Onam to all my Keralite friends! 


For those who are unfamiliar with Onam, my post last year explains what this festival is all about. We would normally have celebrated it, but because my father-in-law passed away this February, we do not participate in any festival celebrations for a year.


But, I do have some pictures to share with you. My mother sent these to me today. These are photographs taken about 70 years ago when my mom was a toddler and she and my grandmother are decorating the house with a flower rangoli pattern.

{A little side note - she was not able to scan them because she didn't know how to use the scanner, and my dad has no patience to teach anyone anything...so my helpless mother took pictures of the pictures...hence they are not of best quality}. 

But I will replace them with real scanned images tomorrow.

And yes, S & S got a facelift. For quite a while I felt the white writing on black was not real easy on the eyes and difficult to read, but I sort of ignored it cos I liked the colors. But finally, an honest reader complained....and I listened...and decided YES, it was time for a change, time to pick some colors that were more soothing to the eyes. I hope you all like it....I am open to all suggestions, compliments, criticisms, ideas....after all its you people who read the stuff. So tell me!!!

Its festival time - Happy Diwali!

I'm linking up to Emreen's blog party and sharing some pics that I took last evening of some lamps I lit around the house. The main lighting will be this evening, but if the rain shows up like it has the past 3 evenings, I may not get to take any more outside.

Enjoy them, and a VERY HAPPY DIWALI to all my fellow desi bloggers and readers! Have a great holiday, with family, friends, love, laughter, food, drink and sweets!

Navratri Nostalgia

I was invited by Pree to join her Durga Puja blog event, "Beyond Five Days of Durga Puja". Let me admit right off the bat, that even though I have wanted to for years...I have never been part of an authentic pandal-hopping Bengali Durga Puja event, inspite of a cousin living in Kolkata who has always asked me to come visit! But Durga Puja in Kolkata or Navratri in Tamil Nadu, Kullu Dussehra in Himachal Pradesh or Bommai Kolu in AP and Karnataka, for each and every Indian it is the same - 9 days of reverence, decoration, food and festivites culminating in the 10th day or Vijaya Dasami, the day we loved as children, cos we had to keep all our school books in the prayer room for Goddess Saraswati, and got away without doing homework!!!!

For as long as I can remember, the best place to be for these 9 days was, and still is, our ancestral home in Chennai. This is where nothing has changed in the way Navratri is celebrated, over the last 80 odd years! It was home to 6 families at one time living jointly, but of course over the past years people have passed on and children have left for the US in search of fame and fortune, so only 6 people reside there now. But even today, come Navratri, the rituals and customs stay the same...and while we were away in the US for 23 years, we would get all the news about the preparations, and pictures and descriptions would be sent by obliging family members.
Here are some pics to give you an idea...every day the flower arrangement would be devoted to a particular God

Sifting and sorting through all the flowers bought at the market...pink and red rose petals, yellow and saffron marigolds, green leaved "davanam" or Artemesia, purple chrysanthemums and intoxicating white jasmine. The fragrance would linger in the house for days after...

Gossiping and threading the flowers to make garlands

Decorating Lord Shiva's bull - the Nandi

Flowers forming the symbol of Shiva, the linga

The peacock and the spear (or Vel), dedicated to the war god, Lord Muruga, the second son of Lord Shiva

The discus and the conch symolizing Lord Vishnu

Goddess Lakshmi sitting on a lotus

The Brindavanam of Sri Raghavendra Swamy

18 squares symbolizing the 18 holy steps one has to climb to view the Sanctum Sanctorum of Lord Ayyappa in Sabarimala

The favorite elephant god Ganesha!

It was nothing so elaborate in my home...but my mother religiously set up the "Golu" - a gallery of handcrafted dolls representing major deities, scenes from everyday life, doll sets representing mythological events and so on. These dolls get handed down from generation to generation. In Tamil, Golu means a sovereign sitting in his royal durbar. The underlying belief in arranging the dolls in a tier is to depict Goddess Durga or Mahishasuramardhini, sitting in her Golu, prior to the slaying of the demon Mahishasura!

But whether it was our family home in Chennai or our home, the best part always came after the prayer - the food! For each of the nine days a different sweet dish would be prepared. One day it would be creamy semiyan payasam or kheer, the next day sticky chakra pongal/jaggery rice laced with cashews, then it would be rich rava kesari or melt in your mouth mysore pak!

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And then to balance the sweetness there was sundal......tangy, spiced chick peas seasoned with mustard and garnished with grated coconut.

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Recipe for sundal:

1 cup chole/white chick peas or garbanzo beans soaked overnight
1/4 tsp oil
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
1tsp black gram dal
1-2 dried red chilies - adjust to taste
2-3 tbsp freshly grated coconut, frozen works too
salt to taste

Drain the chick peas, add 1 1/2 cups of water, bring to high boil and cook over a stove top so it does not get too cooked and mushy. It should have a bite to it, not too soft or too raw. It should take about 15 minutes. Halfway through add some salt to it. Drain the water. In a skillet add the oil, add the mustard seeds. Once they start popping add the black gram dal and red chilies. Stir till the black gram turns reddish brown. Add the cooked chick peas and give it a toss. Add the coconut, cook for another 2 minutes, serve warm.


So what will I be doing this Navratri??? I will decorate our puja room with flowers, light lamps in the evenings, maybe make sundal......and then my mom just told me this evening that she has unearthed an old wooden box that had been hiding in her loft, which has really old handcrafted mud dolls that belonged to her grandmother.....!!! So I am waiting eagerly for her to bring them tomorrow....shall share that will all of you!
Have a great holiday and festival season!

Happy Onam!

Happy Onam to all my Kerala friends! And since my ancestors are from Kerala too, but who moved to Chennai many many years ago, I get to enjoy this festival too in spirit!

Onam is the most popular harvest festival celebrated with pomp and grandeur by the Malayalee communities of Kerala to express their gratitude for the home coming of their benevolent king Mahabali and in memory of the happy days of his rule.
According to a popular legend, Vaman, one of the incarnations of Lord Vishnu, asked as much land as he could cover in three steps from king Mahabali. Mahabali generously agreed to his request. Later, Vaman, in two giant strides, covered the earth and heaven and when asked where could he place his third step? Mahabali offered his head for Vaman to place his third step. Vaman then pushed Mahabali to the netherworld and granted him permission to go to his beloved kingdom of Kerala only once a year. Onam is celebrated to welcome Mahabali's home coming.

The rich cultural heritage of Kerala comes out in its best form and spirit during the ten day long festival. The most impressive part of Onam celebration is the grand feast called Onasadya, prepared on Thiruonam. It is a nine course meal consisting of 11 to 13 essential dishes. Onasadya is served on banana leaves and people sit on a mat laid on the floor to have the meal.


Another enchanting feature of Onam is Vallamkali, the Snake Boat Race, held on the river Pampa. It is a colourful sight to watch the decorated boat oared by hundreds of boatmen amidst chanting of songs and cheering by spectators.

There is also a tradition to play games, collectively called Onakalikal, on Onam. Men go in for rigorous sports like Talappanthukali (played with a ball), Ambeyyal (Archery), Kutukutu and combats called Kayyankali and Attakalam. Women indulge in cultural activities. They make intricately designed flower mats called, Pookalam in the front courtyard of the house to welcome King Mahabali. Kaikotti kali and Thumbi Thullal are two graceful dances performed by women on Onam. Folk performances like Kummatti kali and Pulikali add to the zest of celebrations.

In Kerala, it marks the end of the monsoon. The harvest has been reaped and granaries are full. At Shoranur, Kathakali dancers tell stories from the Ramayana and Mahabharata through dance movements.

In Kottayam, boat races are held and the entire population of Kerala get together to celebrate the festival.

In other words, Onam in Kerala is like the Mardi Gras in New Orleans or the Carnival in Rio - a whole lotta fun! One look at these pics and you will agree....

Kerela is truly God's own country!

Images via flickr photo sharing!