Onam Pookalam is the most important parts of the Onam celebration. Onam Pookalam generally known as Onam flower carpet brings reflective memories of early day's life in Kerala particularly to nonresident Keralites. Making a Pookalam each day is like a custom in every home during the ten-day long festivals. Onam Pookalam has made of different types of flowers.
The particular flowers have used on each day dedicated to each day of Onam celebrations. These beautiful flowers along with the naturally derived colors and cow dung used in made attractive designs. There are various commonly used flowers include Thumba (Lucas Aspera), The chipoovu, Kakka Poovu, Mukkutti (little tree plant), Chemparathy (shoe flower), Aripoo or Konginipoo (Lantana), Hanuman Kireedom (Red pagoda plant) and Chethi (Ixora). Thumba flowers are given more importance of all of these flowers in Onam Pookalam as they are small in size and sparkle in the soft rays of the sun.
Onam Pookalam 2014
Onam Pookalam is difficult and colorful arrangements of flowers put on the floors. People used to create efforts to collect flowers for designing a Pookalam and children also used to get up early in the morning and collect flowers in their basket. In 2014, the people are waiting this festival with too excitements. Onam Pookalam decoration competitions have organized by different societies and groups around the Kerala on the day of Onam.
For the main day of this event, Pookalam gets ready and size of a Pookalam has increased by adding more to it on every passing day. On the second day of celebration, Thumba flowers are used to decorate Pookalam. This arrangement has not touched for the next fifteen days that called Ayilyam and also decorated again. The Pookalam has given cut in its four corners with a knife on the next day of the festival, called Magam. This tradition marks the end of Pookalam decoration for the year.