Onam Celebrations in Southern California

Yesterday, Onam celebrations were held by KALA(Kerala Association of Los Angeles) at the Sanatan Dharma Cultural Center in Artesia. It was a grand celebration and the Sadya was a real feast. Only problem being you had to have it in a small plastic plate instead of “ela”(plantain leaf), which was available only for the early birds.

Here are a few snaps. (Picture quality is not that great coz my camera is bit old, sorry for that)
Note : Click on images to view full size.

Sadya (The feast), the most "looked forward to" event in Onam for many, including me.

2^nd gen kids on what onam means to them. This one took the cake - “There was this dude called Maveli, like he was really cool king and stuff but some guy squashed him under the ground”. Said in typical yankee accent. And to make the contrast more marked, the guy asking the questions had this typical old fashioned south-indian accent, you know, those crisp pronunciations.

Thalapoli team on their way to welcome Maveli. Now you know why I drove 60 miles in 85F southern california afternoon heat , apart from the lure of the sadya ;)

Here comes the Maveli. Notice the “chanda” guys in the background. They weren't professionals, but hey, something is better than nothing.

Pulikali

Maveli getting the traditional "Thalapoli" welcome. We can't see Maveli in this image though,but he's there, right there in the middle.

Maveli inside the auditorium

Maveli on stage

Thiruvathira Kali. It was quite good.

Classical Dance. Again, very impressive performance. Its a pity I had a battered sony camera instead of a handycam

Little Talents

Folk Dance

Popular song “munthiri padam” from “Kochi Rajavu” being sung. Before the song, it was announced that kids can come on stage and join in and dance along. They didn't need a second invite. This was probably the most enjoyed program, thanks to the enthu kids.

And when malayalees get together, how can mimicry be far behind. Achumaman, leader, Antony and finally Jayan were mimicked by this little girl who did a great job. The audience were in raptures.

That was a great onam. Thanks KALA. Hope to be there next year too. Oh no no, hope to be at home in Kerala next year!!