Onanilavu 2022 – The Making of Onam Pookalam by Team Onavil
By L.N. Venkataraman
Bangalore, India
I had the wonderful opportunity to be part of a team in an Onam Pookalam (floral arrangement contest with the Kerala festival Onam as the theme). The amount of planning, collaboration, coordination, effort and timing speak volumes of what went behind this 10 feet x 10 feet floral design. Our team (named Onavil) won the second prize. More than a cause for celebration, this video captures the amazing team work behind the scenes to cherish this as an unforgettable experience of working together in harmony for the sake of harmony. I have collated the various pictures and videos shared by the team and friends, strung them together with some creative design.
Indeed it was a divine experience working together as a team, each member with a wonderful range of design, and art skills. They along with other volunteer contributors made it happen and everyone involved, deserves to treasure this video as a token of divine memory of being together for a purpose. This may also serve as a useful information for those who are not familiar with Onam and such creative floral arrangements.
The video covers the making of Onam Pookalam by a team of residents from two blocks, as part of the Purva Fountain Square apartment Onam Pookalam contest held on Saturday, 15th October 2022.
Below description is contributed by a team member:
Onam is a festival celebrated by all communities, all social classes, all genders – a festival which truly glorifies the equality, a festival not just for you or me but for us. Here is our attempt to create a fusion of two greatest forms of art from our beautiful land. The one on the right – perhaps the most iconic symbol of Kerala, Kathakali and one on the left is the hidden treasure of Kerala, Theyyam. Theyyam speaks a lot about humanity and the god within. The people consider that Theyyam itself is a channel to god and they thus seek blessings from Theyyam. It encompasses dance, mime, music and celebrates the oneness with god.
Onanilavu 2022 – The Making of Onam Pookalam by Team Onavil
Venkat is the founder and CEO of Adaptive Instruction with corporate experience of more than 20 years. The company is mainly focused on school academic education at present, and he is also getting into training workshops and talks for professionals, young adults, and college students, He is a person with varied interests. He is a faculty in SIVA and teaches astrology to adults.