In the pookallam contest organised by city-based Yuva Kerala Arts and Sports Club, more than 50 families are in the fray. The contest is expected to register considerable “footfall”, as it would be beamed into households, including the participants’.

The creative floral arrangements can be shared online in this virtual contest titled “My Onam Celebration”, which ends on August 31st.

“None of the cultural associations want to take a chance organising mass Onam celebrations in these times, so we are conducting three online contests which would still provide an atmosphere conducive for bonding,” says Shibu G. Pillai, president of the Yuva Kerala Arts and Sports Club.

The management committee of TVH Lumbini Square in Purasawalkam sent out an invitation to residents asking them to be part of the Vinaya Chaturthi celebrations, but from the safety of their homes.

“Corona does not allow us to gather together, but we can be united in our prayers, compassion and celebration in a unique way. Everyone can be a part of this devotional celebration from their home itself,” the invitation reads.

Balconies as gallery

The Association did a live telecast of the evening alankaram and pooja on Facebook. Another option before residents was to watch it form balconies as an LED screen had been erected for this purpose.

Two virtual competitions were conducted and prizes were given away. The committee asked families to share videos of dance, fashion show or other activities and these were telecast. The Ganesh Chaturthi celebration at Rani Meyyammai Towers, MRC Nagar is usually a three-day event. This time, it was reduced to a day with a simple celebration at the temple inside the community. Mask wearing and social distancing were a must.

“Extra masks were kept handy for those who showed up without wearing one,” says Jayashree Sundaresan, a resident.

Unlike the previous years where the prasadam would be bought, this time around, it was made in-house. The 1008 modaks used for the abhishekam were entirely made by residents.

“Some of us are not familiar preparing modaks, so we had step-by-step instructions reeled out to get the perfect shape and texture. Close to 50 families prepared the modaks, each dishing out at least 20 each, which after the abhishekam was given as prasadam,” says Jayashree.

To minimise crowding there was no individual sankalpam and only common samithi sankalpam.

To avoid crowding, Mandaveli Raja Street Residents Welfare Association had the Ganesha statue kept at three to four places on the street.

“This way you split the devotees to prevent them from congregating at one place,” says Kanthi Neelamekam, president of the Association, adding that they did not want to miss out on the festivities but keep it simple and safe.

Planning for Navarathri

Some apartment associations have started discussing how to celebrate the nine-day Navarathri festival, obviously with elaborate safety guidelines in place.

Says Jayashree, “We have close to 30 homes that generally display the kolu dolls. This time will they invite people home to see the arrangement; or would they move it to Zoom at a specific time of the day... these are some of things we are mulling over. But Navarathri draws a good number of people, and many would not want to be cut off from the celebration completely, so we have to plan better.”

A season for giving

Some of the cultural associations that have either scaled down or cancelled their Onam celebrations due to the pandemic are using the money that has been saved to help the underprivileged.

For the last eight years, Yuva Kerala Arts and Sports Club has been organising a football tournament — Yuva Cup — two weeks before Onam.

Last year, 40 teams took part in the event, with some of the participants coming from other cities. A team representing the Chennai City Police won last year’s Yuva Cup.

This year, as the Club is not conducting the event due to the pandemic, it has decided to use the cash prize of ₹ 50,000 to support needy families.

“We raised some more funds through our WhatsApp group to help three families in Chennai. One family in Perambur has been struggling to play the school fees of their child and another family was badly affected due to COVID,” says Shibu G. Pillai, president of Yuva Kerala Arts and Sports Club.

Similarly, Dakshinaa is distributing Onam kits worth ₹ 1,000 each to 16 needy families. On Onam day, it is organising a sadhya for 50 destitute residents at an old age home in Thiruvallur.

Rajani Rajanarayanan, a member of Dakshinaa, says, “We usually go to the Malayalee Club to celebrate but this time as most clubs had cancelled their events we are creating our own happiness.”