Written by
On September 22nd, MGOCSM members from Ahmedabad Unit celebrated Onam at St. Gregorios Chapel, Ognaj. It was a grand celebration fostering a sense of cultural pride and unity among the youth of our Church. The event started off, after the regular Sunday’s Holy Qurbana at Ognaj Chapel. Our Vicar Rev. Fr. C. S. Mathew, and assistant Vicars Rev. Fr. Dennies Daniel and Rev. Fr. Abey Chacko along with the managing committee members also attended this celebration.
The Celebration started with a Pookallam Competition which indeed was a tough one as all the participants exhibited their creativity making wonderful designs with floral petals thus making it very hard for the judges to decide the 1st, 2nd and the 3rd prize.
It was equally challenging for the participants too, as they had to complete the design in a time limit of one and half hour.
What to say, when all the Pookallams got completed it gave an ambiance and a feel of a real Kerala traditional Onam at our Ognaj campus. It was a mini Kerala with an Onam Celebration vibe all around.
The Onam Sadhya or the traditional Kerala cuisine gave all the taste buds a trilling experience with vegetarian Kerala foods. Served on paper leaf with traditional food items like Rice, Aviyell, Thoran, Paruppu, Sambar, Moru, achar, papadam & adda Pradhaman etc…
Our Vicar Rev. Fr. C.S. Mathew gave a brief insight on what really an Onam is and what are the significance of celebrating Onam.
After this the Cultural activities started showcasing the young talents of our Church with vivid items like Solo Songs, traditional dance, Ramp Walk. We also had few game session like Vaddam-Valli after the cultural programmes.
Ramp Walk in action…
Finally what is Onam ?
For the new Generation; Onam is an annual Harvest Festival of Kerala State in India. It falls in the Malayalam calendar month of Chingam, which as per our Gregorian calendar comes in between August or September. This festival also commemorates the Hindu mythological story of Vamana; an avatar of Vishnu, and subsequent homecoming of the legendary Emperor Mahabali and mythologies of Hinduism related to Kashyapa and Parashurama. In Kerala, Onam is celebrated for ten days. They are sequentially known as Atham, Chithira, Chodhi, Vishakam, Anizham, Thriketa, Moolam, Pooradam, Uthradam and Thiruvonam.
Bency Jiju is a teacher at H.B. Kapadia new high school, Memnagar. She has completed her M.Sc., B. Ed. She loves singing, dancing and teaching. She loves to get included in various activities of the church. She is also a Sunday School teacher and part of Praise and Worship team as well as Cathedral Choir group.
Can’t resist encouraging – Really a Wonderful Article by Bency Jiju. Onam Celebration we all do, but reporting that event is a very tough job. But you have done it by keeping it short and not missing any details. Keep it up – God Bless you
Thank u so much for your encouraging words. It means a lot. 👍