Onam celebrations on a high note

[nandkumar]

Dear Members,
As always, Onam was celebrated with "Pookalam",
songs and dances, a sumptuous lunch topped up with two types of
payasam, parippu and palada.
The proceedings began with a prayer by Geetha, in praise of Sree
Poornathrayeesha, family deity of Kochi royal family.

I feel it would be worthwhile to collect and compile such bhajans
composed by our elders as they form an essential part of our heritage
that can be passed on to coming generations.

The cultural programmes that followed saw dance by Aparna, daughter of
Geetha and Nandakumar and a song by Amokh, son of Archana and
Balagopal. Then, Niranjan, son of Raveendran and Suneethi along with
Uma, daughter of Saju and Maya, presented a dance to much acclaim.

Ashwin, son of Sanal and Sindhu presented a song, followed by Uma's
solo dance. Niranjan, son of Raveendran-Suneethi, played the violin.
Besides these items, there were melodious songs sung by Manju and
Aravind.

C S Rajan, who was appointed by the Supreme Court in the Committee
formed to take an inventory of the items kept in the cellars of Sree
Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, spoke about his
experiences.

At the very outset, he said it would be wrong to term the collection
as treasure since these were mostly jewels and vestments used to adorn
the deity. Being in constant usage, these jewels and adornments had
developed damages like chipping or abrasions and were discarded and
stored in cellars as nothing but the most perfect jewels should adorn
the Lord.

In one such instance, the then king, who had ordered an "Anki" (cloak)
for the 18-feet long idol, reclining in the bed formed by the serpent
Anantha, found that it was loose and ill fitting and ordered its
removal. This particular "Anki" was found in the collection.

By citing several such examples, he opined that there is nothing to
doubt the honesty and integrity of the royal family, who for
generations had only added to the wealth of Sree Padmanabha.

Next was an event that caused much merriment. Couples from various age
groups were selected and then divided into two groups. Each
participant was given a box of bangles of different sizes. thier task
was to put these bangles on any girls hands and the first one to
finish the box gets a prize.

Much to our amusement, the winners turned out to be KCC Raja and
Vilasini Thampatty who lost no time in adorning both hands of their
granddaughter, Uma with bangles eventually reaching up to the elbows.

Then came the film song quiz. The questions related to film songs that
anyone in the audience had to identify the singer, the film, actors or
music director. The period spanned from “Neelakuyil” days to the more
recent “Rakshasi, Rakshasi...” The first prize went to Rakesh and
Roshni and the second prize to new member Satheeshan.

Post-lunch, we hit the high notes with "Anthakshari" of Malayalam film
songs. This time, the men were equal to the challenge posed by the
formidable ladies team, never sparing a thought in converting even
solo songs into group songs.

We also had a rendering of "Maveli Nadu Vanidum Kalam" and the
evergreen “Kuttanadan punchayile” with Rajan Chettan as the lead
singer.

regards,
Nandakumar Varma