Kerala Festival 2015 begins in Chennai

A ‘Mini Kerala Village’ recreated at the fest had a traditional teashop, locally known as ‘Chayakkada’, built using palm leaves with a wooden desk at its entrance that served authentic banana fry and tea, a snack that is commonly sold in teashops in Kerala villages.

The space was set up to entertain the eight lakh Malayalee community with folk songs, dramas and poetry recitations. “This tea-shop and the stash of hay arranged in this typical format reminds me of my days in the village in Thrissur during the mid 70s when I and my friends used to get together for chatting petty politics after college hours,” said 55-year-old Raghavan Nair, a retired army officer who came along with his family to the fest. He also added that the fest would be a new experience for the new generation kids for whom the local teashops and evening meetings have transformed to malls and WhatsApp and Facebook groups.

The event was part of the 60th year of State formation also called as ‘Kerala piravi’ that is organised by Kerala tourism department, in coordination with Kerala Sahitya Akademi, an institute that promotes Malayalam literature.

The three-day event started with ‘Chendamelam’, an ethnic drum beat and ‘Mohiniyattam’, the official classical dance practised in Kerala for centuries.

“We want not just the young generation from Kerala, but people from other States to understand and enjoy the different cultural forms that was once a major part of Kerala society,” said M.P. Anwar, organising committee chairman.