The swanky interiors of Lulu Mall at Edappally on Friday sported a colourful décor steeped in tradition and conviviality, thanks to 50-odd vibrant ‘pookkalams’ designed and beautifully laid at the 10th edition of The Hindu-MetroPlus Pookkalam Contest.
As diverse as the floral arrangements were the participants who represented a cross-section of the city’s populace. So, there was Selvi from Madurai who headed a team, while Varsha led a team representing the Gujarati community from Mattancherry.
Geetha, a participant, captured it succinctly when she observed that Onam had transcended boundaries and was as much a festival for all communities settled in the State, as it was for Malayalees anywhere in the world.
And, celebration it was for the participants who found time to share their Onam memories and even render Onam songs while being busy designing pookkalams. Some were there to win it like Saju from Thripunithura who had won it once back in 2012, while there were the likes of Varsha who had been participating in the contest for eight straight years just for the joy of it.
Conserving rivers
Vysakh, a volunteer of Isha Foundation, made the contest a medium to draw attention to the month-long campaign, Rally for Rivers, which got under way in Coimbatore earlier in the day.
“We would like to create awareness among the public about the need for preserving rivers and to elicit their support for a policy document the foundation plans to submit to the Prime Minister next month,” he said.
Two-and-a-half hours allotted to complete the pookalams were put to use diligently by the participants. Some used the bulk of that time to draw up intricate designs and completed the arrangement in a flash, while some others fell back on simple designs and focused more on impeccable arrangement of flowers and leaves.
Either way, the pookkalams that resulted exuded quality and imagination. There were all conceivable colours, and a wide variety of figures like swan, peacock, stars, trees, women performing Thiruvathira, and children on swings jumped out of the pookkalams.
The contest turned out to be an added attraction to visitors to the mall on a holiday, as they walked past each pookkalam and made their own judgments.
The event was powered by Louis Philippe, and Lulu Mall was the venue partner. Poabs Supreme Tea, Kerala Tourism, Sprinkle Salt, and the Kerala State Women’s Development Corporation Ltd were the associate sponsors. MediaOne was the TV partner. Gonexa Premium Sleep Series, Daily Fish, Dhathri Ayurveda, V-Star, Soulful, Finolex, and KTDC were the gift sponsors. The best dressed male, female and traditionally dressed team were given gift hampers by V-Star.