onam
On the seventh day of Onam, Ruby Thomas and her two friends gathered at her New City home to make the intricate floral patterns that are the hallmark of the South Indian harvest festival.
The young women bought multicolored flowers, separated the petals into bowls, and arranged them into traditional designs that have been passed on from generation to generation. Typically, women make designs in concentric circles on each of the 10 days of the Onam celebration, and hold competitions to decide who has the best Onam pookkalam, or floral pattern.
As a modern-day, American-born Malayalee - natives of Kerala state are known after their language, Malayalam - Thomas and her friends do not have the time to do things the traditional way. If she didn't have to drive into Manhattan for work, Thomas said, she would add to her Onam pookkalam more often.
"If I had more time, I'd do it every day," said Thomas, 32, who works for the New York Presbyterian Hospital's revenue cycle department. "Even though I'm born in America, I love the Indian traditions."
Malayalees in India celebrate Onam over 10 days with family gatherings, traditional dances, new clothes, processions, games, feasts, and the colorful snake boat races that have become a highlight of tourism in India.
The Malayalee diaspora, which includes several thousand living in the Lower Hudson Valley, celebrate it with as much enthusiasm in their homes and in rented spaces that allow for big gatherings.
Other than small celebrations at home on Onam day, today, most large-scale festivities will be held on the weekend that is the most convenient for members of the various Malayalee associations. The Hudson Valley Malayalee Association, whose members are mostly from Rockland, will mark Onam on Sept. 19. The Westchester Malayalee Association will hold its celebration Sept. 12.
Though Onam is a harvest festival, it is closely linked with the mythical demon king of Kerala, Mahabali, known for his benevolence, humor, good governance and love for his subjects.
Legend has it that Mahabali's reign spread so much happiness and prosperity in his kingdom that the gods began to fear the eventual takeover of their celestial empire. To prevent such a fate, Indra, the king of heaven, appealed to Vishnu, the all-powerful preserver of the Hindu trinity, to rein in Mahabali.
Vishnu, in the form of a dwarf, appeared before Mahabali and asked for alms - land that could be covered in three paces. Mahabali, the gracious king that he was, agreed.
But Vishnu expanded to his true cosmic form. With his first step, he covered the heavens and with his second, the netherworld. Expecting that the third step would crush his kingdom, Mahabali offered Vishnu his own life instead. Vishnu banished Mahabali to the underworld, but pleased with his love for his subjects, granted him a boon. Mahabali asked that he be allowed to return once a year to his kingdom. His annual return is celebrated as Onam across Kerala. The flower carpet that Malayalees lovingly display on their doorsteps is a welcome mat for Mahabali.
Neetu Shaji of the Bronx learned how to make the floral patterns while sitting beside her aunt, the first in the family to come to the United States 35 years ago.
"We would gather around her and watch. Sometimes she would let us help," said Shaji, 18, who was born and raised in New Rochelle and now is a pre-med student at the New York Institute of Technology at Old Westbury, Long Island. "As the years progressed, she would let us do it. It was a learning process."
Shaji will be returning to college, so she cannot participate in the traditional dance celebration that takes place every year. Women dressed in white and gold sarees with flowers in their hair welcome Mahabali, often a good humored, rotund man with a mustache who offers to dress in regal finery and play the beloved demon king.
Led by men beating traditional drums, Mahabali makes jokes and walks around surveying his kingdom and subjects. He is surrounded by women carrying platters of flowers with lit candles.
An afternoon feast called Onam sadya is an integral part of the holiday.
Between 11 and 21 varieties of vegetarian food are served on banana leaves to the gathered celebrants. The dishes include payasam, a sweet vermicelli cooked with brown sugar and coconut milk; papadam, a savory wafer made from lentils; small bananas; avial, a mixed vegetable dish cooked with coconut; sambar, a spicy lentil soup; rice; kalan, a green banana and yogurt curry; and pickled ginger.
There were few Malayalees in Rockland when Aney Paul moved to Nanuet 22 years ago. When more of her compatriots moved to the county, she began organizing Onam celebrations, encouraging competitions of Onam pookkalam and games for children and adults alike during the festival.
"It's a happy day for everybody," said Paul, who is running for the Clarkstown Town Board. "It's a day when everyone comes together and enjoys the day without any distinction between the rich and poor. There is equality and happiness," she said.
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