Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, joined Onam celebrations on Tuesday, sharing a colourful feast served during the Keralite festival.
Sheikh Hamdan posted a photo on his Instagram Stories using the hashtag #HappyOnam. The photo showed the vegetarian feast, called Onam sadya, which is always presented on a banana leaf.
Between nine and 30 different dishes can be served with Onam sadya, including curries, dal, pickles, poppadums and banana chips. Generally served during weddings, it is also cherished by all at this time of year.
Onam – an important harvest festival in Kerala – began this year on August 20 and is marked with great fanfare across the South Indian state and among Malayali communities around the world.
The UAE's Malayali community is nearly a million strong – one of the largest Kerala diaspora in the Gulf, according to the Department of Non-Resident Keralites Affairs. Keralites make up 55 per cent of Indian expatriates in the UAE.
Although it is a Hindu festival, Onam has taken on such cultural significance that people of all religions in Kerala now celebrate it to some extent.
During the festival, people place flower arrangements – called pookkalam – around their community and outside their homes. They are considered auspicious and are placed to welcome King Mahabali.
Women wear a cream-coloured kasavu two-piece set with a gold border or a sari during Onam, placing flowers in their hair. Meanwhile, men wear a traditional mundu wrapped around their waist.
Many different performances take place as part of the Onam celebrations. One major event is the snake boat races in Kerala – the region's traditional war boats dating back about 500 years – which use vessels similar to dragon boats.
Another important event is the Kummati Kali dances through the streets, particularly in the Thrissur district. Dancers wear colourful masks and cover their bodies in grass. Theyyam performers – considered to be a direct line to the gods – are also commonly seen during the festival and often perform at temples.
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An Indian Theyyam artist with his face painted waits to perform during the Kummattikali as part of the annual Onam festival celebrations in Thrissur district of Kerala in South India. AFP -
A Theyyam artist performs during the Kummattikali. AFP -
An artisan prepares face masks resembling various Hindu deities for the Kummattikali, a form of colourful mask dance performed as a part of Onam celebrations in Kerala. AFP -
Performers painted as tigers take part in the Pulikkali or tiger dance, in Thrissur. AFP -
Students celebrate the Onam festival at a college campus in Chennai, wearing the traditional cream and gold saris. AFP -
One of the highlights of the festival for many is the Onam sadya or feast. Vegetarian food is often served en masse in the community, in restaurants or at homes, and is always presented on a banana leaf. Photo: Address Dubai Marina -
An Onam sadya feast is served, with mixed vegetables in yoghurt, snake gourd, ash gourd with coconut milk, sweet ripe mango curry, banana and rice chips and other traditional dishes, at a home in Dubai. Jeff Topping / The National -
Artists perform a dance during the Onam festival in Thrissur, Kerala. AFP -
Dancers in body paint wait to take part in a performance. Reuters -
Volunteers prepare food to serve hundreds of people during Onam at the Kerala Social Centre in Abu Dhabi. Andrew Henderson / The National -
An Onam feast at the Kerala Social Centre in Abu Dhabi, which hosted more than 2,000 people for a three-course meal. Andrew Henderson / The National -
Artists perform a traditional dance during the start of the Onam festival in Cochin, Kerala. AP -
A dancer painted to look like a tiger wears a mask backstage before performing during festivities marking the end of Onam. Reuters -
An Indian folk artist dressed as the Hindu god Muruga waits to perform during Kummattikali, as a part of Onam. AP -
A mahout tightens a rope as he drapes a caparison on to an elephant's head, during Onam in Kerala. Reuters -
A mahout sits between elephants participating in Onam festivities, on the outskirts of Kochi. AP -
Devotees pray on the occasion of Onam at Astik Samaj Temple, Matunga in Mumbai, India. Getty -
A floral pookkalam made on the occasion of Onam at Panvel Railway Station in Mumbai. Getty -
A woman puts the finishing touches to a flower pookkalam at Panvel Railway Station in Navi Mumbai. Getty -
Women in traditional Kerala saris take a selfie in front of a pookkalam made during Onam, at CST station in Mumbai, India. Getty -
Percussion artists playing the thavil, a traditional drum, walk ahead of a caparisoned elephant carrying an idol of a deity during Onam, at the Vamana Hindu temple in Kochi, Kerala. AP -
A jockey races a pair of bulls on paddy fields during the annual Kalapoottu bull-running festival, on the occasion of Onam, in the village of Vengannur near Palakkad in Kerala. AFP -
Girls in traditional attire dance as their mother shoots a video to mark Onam, outside a Hindu temple in Kochi, Kerala. AP -
A flower vendor awaits customers at a temporary stall during Onam festivities in Kochi, Kerala. AP
