ANANTAPUR: Thiruvonam was celebrated at Prasanthi Nilayam in the district. It is considered a festival of plenty, prosperity, and most importantly, a day of utmost importance to the people of Kerala. According to legends, it is the arrival of the erstwhile Emperor Mahabali, enquiring about the welfare of his citizens in ‘God’s Own Country’, Kerala. Onam in Prasanthi Nilayam is a different experience, compared to the home experience back in the state where culture, tradition and the legend connected to the festival take a back seat due to the rampant exploitation by commercial interests which give rise to excessive materialism.
Prasanthi Nilayam usually welcomes the holistic side of every festival, embracing and disseminating its true purport. On Monday, Sai Kulw-ant Hall, bore a festive look of gaiety and ma-jesty, with Kerala’s typical natural decorations reflecting the state's valued cultural traditions. Flags, buntings, festoo-ns and colourful parasols were the decoration for the party in the auspicious morning period. Panchavadyam, an ensemble of five musical instruments that are popular in South India, rendered a fillip to the festive spirit in the morning.
Onappookkalam, a typical, colourful and artistic floral decoration on the floor, in front of the Sanctum Sancto-rum stands as a symbol of auspiciousness in the decorative morning. To mark the occasion, upcoming classical voc-alist Abhiram Unni offered a carnatic concert beginning with ‘MahaGanapatim’. He then moved to ‘Sham-bho Mahadeva’, ‘Govin-da Gopala Narayana Ha-ri'’ ‘Krisna Nee Begane’ and concluded with the famed Telugu number ‘'Brahmamokkade’. A regular bhajan trou-pe member for the state, Unni was a picture of si-mplistic elegance this morning, singing with elan. He was effectively acc-ompanied by Vedavati Ganesh on the violin, P. Unnikrishnan on the mridangam, Sreejith on the ghatam and Payy-anur Govindankutty on the ‘morsing’. Next was a brief session of 'Panchavadyam' by the SSSIHL students. Later, Bhajans by the Kerala troupe continued and the session ended with a Mangala Arathi.
