Mangalore: Effervescent Onam Celebrations at Vishwa Vaidya Ayurvedashram, Nantoor

Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (VA)

Mangalore, Sep 10: God’s own country’s prominent feast ‘Onam’ was celebrated with traditional fervour at Vishwa Vaidya Ayurvedashram, Nantoor here on Friday September 9.

Onam is a traditional ten day harvest festival that marks the homecoming of the mythical King Mahabali. It’s a festival rich in culture and heritage. Onam is celebrated in the beginning of the month of Chingam, the first month of Malayalam Calendar (Kollavarsham).

A distinct attempt to celebrate the feast was made by the staff at this ayurvedic centre under the guidance of director Dr Srilatha Shetty. The Onam pookkalam was prepared by the staff in a uniue manner using ayurvedic drugs such as maricha, pippali, thriphala among others.
Pookkalam was also made using ayurvedic leaves mainly of Aswatha and Neem. Grains like black grams, green grams were also used for the beautifully designed pookkalams.

The visitors and patients were given special food with the mix of Kerala and Karnataka delicacies on the occasion. Speaking to Daijiworld Dr Srilatha Shetty said that the festival of Onam usually falls in a season in which the ayurvedic plants bloom beautifully and the it is believed that the efficacy of medicines are also high on this season.

This is the second onam celebration hosted by Vishwa Vaidya Ayurvedashram. This year both the centres of Vishwa Vaidya Ayurvedashram (Vamanjoor and Nantoor) wore a festive look on Onam.