
BY DEVIKA C. MEHTA
NORWALK, CA – Members of the Organization of Hindu Malayalees came together for the 26th Onam and Sree Narayana Guru Celebrations in traditional Kerala Hindu style on Sept 9 at Sanatan Dharma Temple here. The festival celebrates the great legend of Vamana and King Mahabali, who sacrificed everything for the welfare...
NORWALK, CA – Members of the Organization of Hindu Malayalees came together for the 26th Onam and Sree Narayana Guru Celebrations in traditional Kerala Hindu style on Sept 9 at Sanatan Dharma Temple here. The festival celebrates the great legend of Vamana and King Mahabali, who sacrificed everything for the welfare...
of his beloved people. People of Kerala celebrates the occasion of the return of Mahabali with splendor and pomp. On the same day, the great social reformer from Kerala Sree Narayana Guru, who proclaimed that we are all one, was born in Chingam thus enhancing the significance of Onam.
On Sept 9, the festivities cast a magical spell on the guests with a traditional chenda melam, Malyalam feast and a beautiful Pookkalam, a presentation and prayer on Sree Narayana Guru, Thiruvathira. Children, ladies and men dressed in traditional Kerala style clothing in the background of the Pookkalam were a sight to behold.
The event started with the lamp lighting ceremony by organizers- Rema Nair,President OHM; Vinodh Bahuleyan,Secretary; Ravi Vellatheri,Director Public Relations and Fund Raising; Chief Guest Rohit Rathish,Deputy Consul General of the Consulate of India in San Francisco and other invited guests - Govindan Kutty Nair, Dr. Ramdas Pillai, Sajan Pillai,CEO of UST Global and his wife Lata Hariharan . Rema Nair delivered the inaugural speech and welcomed all to the festivities. She reminded all that OHM represents the spirit of Kerala and thanked all the volunteers.
Taking the stage, keynote speaker Rathish talked about the relevance of Onam and the message it brings, which is; “life is all about celebrating together”. He suggested that we can embrace other Indian communities also into OHM’s fold.
Pat Iyer presented the life and work of Sree Narayana Guru and asked the gathering to uphold and assimilate his main teaching of ‘Oru Jathi, Oru Matham, Oru Daivam’ i.e. ‘One Caste, One Religion, One God for all mankind’.
The highlight of the celebration was the two-hour long cultural program presented by Nithya Menon and Vishal Vinodh. The program started with a song describing the natural beauty of Kerala followed by a Bharatanatyam piece based on a Dhyanam of Lord Mahavishnu. Which kept the audience spellbound.
The Onam Ponnonam, an Onam based skit conceived and written by Dipu V.R was presented. This was followed by a traditional Thiruvathira by Athira Suresh & team. Soon after, Sanjaye Elayathu and Jaydeep Menon presented a short video on Koodiyattam, a traditional art form of Kerala, which was appreciated by the audience.
In the afternoon delicious food was served to all. As per tradition, a Malayalee should have the Onam feast no matter what his financial condition is. So, true to the traditions a sumptuous Kerala Sadhya with 21 vegetarian delicacies was served to about 500 members on banana leaves.
Wrapping the event, Chief Guest Rathish awarded a beautiful plaque to Jiju Purushothaman in honor of preparing Onam Sadhya for the past three years. He also distributed awards to students during the graduation ceremony, which the organization has been conducting for the past 20 years. Secretary Bahuleyan concluded the ceremony by thanking all for coming.
On Sept 9, the festivities cast a magical spell on the guests with a traditional chenda melam, Malyalam feast and a beautiful Pookkalam, a presentation and prayer on Sree Narayana Guru, Thiruvathira. Children, ladies and men dressed in traditional Kerala style clothing in the background of the Pookkalam were a sight to behold.
The event started with the lamp lighting ceremony by organizers- Rema Nair,President OHM; Vinodh Bahuleyan,Secretary; Ravi Vellatheri,Director Public Relations and Fund Raising; Chief Guest Rohit Rathish,Deputy Consul General of the Consulate of India in San Francisco and other invited guests - Govindan Kutty Nair, Dr. Ramdas Pillai, Sajan Pillai,CEO of UST Global and his wife Lata Hariharan . Rema Nair delivered the inaugural speech and welcomed all to the festivities. She reminded all that OHM represents the spirit of Kerala and thanked all the volunteers.
Taking the stage, keynote speaker Rathish talked about the relevance of Onam and the message it brings, which is; “life is all about celebrating together”. He suggested that we can embrace other Indian communities also into OHM’s fold.
Pat Iyer presented the life and work of Sree Narayana Guru and asked the gathering to uphold and assimilate his main teaching of ‘Oru Jathi, Oru Matham, Oru Daivam’ i.e. ‘One Caste, One Religion, One God for all mankind’.
The highlight of the celebration was the two-hour long cultural program presented by Nithya Menon and Vishal Vinodh. The program started with a song describing the natural beauty of Kerala followed by a Bharatanatyam piece based on a Dhyanam of Lord Mahavishnu. Which kept the audience spellbound.
The Onam Ponnonam, an Onam based skit conceived and written by Dipu V.R was presented. This was followed by a traditional Thiruvathira by Athira Suresh & team. Soon after, Sanjaye Elayathu and Jaydeep Menon presented a short video on Koodiyattam, a traditional art form of Kerala, which was appreciated by the audience.
In the afternoon delicious food was served to all. As per tradition, a Malayalee should have the Onam feast no matter what his financial condition is. So, true to the traditions a sumptuous Kerala Sadhya with 21 vegetarian delicacies was served to about 500 members on banana leaves.
Wrapping the event, Chief Guest Rathish awarded a beautiful plaque to Jiju Purushothaman in honor of preparing Onam Sadhya for the past three years. He also distributed awards to students during the graduation ceremony, which the organization has been conducting for the past 20 years. Secretary Bahuleyan concluded the ceremony by thanking all for coming.