A very special Onam at a historic place……

Kurian

We had a lovely family get-together and Onam (Kerala’s biggest festival) celebrations at a historic location. About 40 of us gathered in the Tharavad House of Murikkan, the kayal Raja (king of rice cultivation). That was 60% of the families of my siblings, 40% being overseas travelling during the holidays

My sister is married to Kayal Raja’s son The ancestral house was built some 120 years back and stands in the middle of Kuttanad (the rice bowl of Kerala) which is now connected by road.

Two Prime Ministers (Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi) visited the house. Kayal Raja title was bestowed on my sister’s father in law by Nehru.

Kayal Raja did something impossible by developing the waterbody (kayal) which is actually below sea level by building bunds and planting coconut tress all over the bund. The nellara (rice storage facility) is a huge godown where boats full of rice were stored.

The first communist government in Kerala wanted to show their land reform and nationalized thousands of acres of Kayal raja’s land giving a paltry compensation. In fact this was the only land take over that the Government did! The government management has totally destroyed the paddy cultivation and it is a sad story now where no one knows how to cultivate in the land. Murikkan was a visionary and he acquired large pieces of land and planted rubber and cash crops so that the family is secure.

The organizer of the get-together was my wife. We had a number of games including a group dance led by me. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the day.

We had pookkalam (onam flower arrangement), nilavilakk which my eldest sister lighted, various games and completions for all ages, songs, dances, speed boat ride, swimming in the deep and  wide water, some fishing and above all the ona sadya (onam lunch) where we had the traditional payasams- ada pradhaman and palada.

A very enjoyable day

Incidentally the Murikkan family is planning to develop the place into a tourism resort/ homestay. I can bet that it will turn out to be ‘the place’ to visit when it is all ready

Happy Onam

A very special Onam at a historic place……

35 thoughts on “A very special Onam at a historic place……”

      2. Sheeja, I was chatting with her a while back. She is better and can lift her hands an legs but walking is a struggle
        I reminded her of your advice on proper focus on physio and she agreed
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      3. The hands are ok. That is good news. Then tell her the legs would be ok soon. Legs can use the nerves of the back to walk. She has to relearn first with a walker, then with a stick then normal walking.

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      5. Kindly wish her speedy recovery from my side and tell her women are the strongest of all beings on this earth. And in my professional life I have not seen a single woman not recovering from a stroke. All of them go back to their normal lives. So kindly copy paste this message to her.
        Sheerja, I wish very good health and I know you are going to be ok. Sometimes it takes time but don’t give up. Learn to walk again and I know you will good luck. All my prayers to you.
        Shalini

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