Thrissur: The cultural capital of Kerala has set the ball rolling for the ten-day-long Onam festivities, which celebrates state's golden harvest festival, by making an elaborate floral carpet or 'Pookalam.'
This Pookalam bearing the 'malayali' culture and colour is 52-feet in diameter and is created with the usage of flowers weighing around 1,200 kilograms.
According to reports, the floral carpet, created at the southern entrance of the iconic Vadakkumnathan temple, took six hours to complete and required 100 people working in tandem.
A cultural union in 'Tekkinkadu,' comprising of over 100 friends, came together to lay down the pookalam for the 12th year.
Artist Nandan Pillai, a cine worker and also a memeber of this cultural union is the chief designer of this huge floral carpet and the size and variety of colours are only set to increase as we approach 'Thiru-onam' or the scared onam.
Besides the residents and temple faithfuls, District Mayor Ajit Vijayan and Mary Thomas, member of tourism promotion council were also present when the design was unveiled. The handiwork started at around 3 AM, with the opening of the shrine and the task lasted the next six hours.
The state government has made elaborate arrangements for celebrating Onam this year. The spirit of Onam would give strength to the people of the state to come out of the difficulties caused due to the devastating floods, State Culture Minister A K Balan said, inaugurating the celebrations at nearby Tripunithura, capital of the erstwhile Royal Kingdom of Kochi.
According to legends, the festival is celebrated by all regardless of faith, religion and caste, to welcome King Mahabali, whose spirit is believed to visit Kerala at the time of Onam to see his subjects.
Read: Onam festivities begin in Kerala with rallies and folk art performances
