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Kerala Govt to spend Rs10 m for Onam
by Juhan Samuel

     Kochi: The Government of Kerala has allotted Rs.10 million (215,160 dollars) for celebrating the harvest festival of Onam across the state. Of this Rs.3.6 million will be spent in state capital Thiruvananthapuram, while Rs.2.5 million each will be allocated to the districts of Kochi and Kozhikode. The remaining eleven districts will be given Rs.100,000 each to organise various cultural events during the Onam week, which falls between September 3 and September 9. State Tourism Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan told reporters here that he was expecting nearly 10,000 artistes to take part in cultural events across the state. Kerala Assembly legislator V. Sivan Kutty, who is one of the key organisers of the celebrations, said that the state government has also decided to popularise the festival of Onam in foreign countries as part of its tourism policy. "From next year we expect larger number of foreign tourists for the festivities and we will do everything possible to achieve that goal," Balakrishnan said. Meanwhile, at least three international airlines flying from Kerala will celebrate the Onam Festival by offering a traditional feast (sadya) to their passengers. Qatar Airways, Oman Air and Air India Express will have a festive Onam menu from September 4 to September 6.

    The harvest festival begins on September 4. Qatar Airways was the first to announce its culinary plans. Their manager K. Jayaprakash said the Onam lunch would be served on their flights departing from Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. The traditional Onam sadya consists of 27 dishes - all vegetarian - followed by mouth-watering payasam (rice pudding). "Taking into account the difficulty of serving the entire complement of curries served during Onam, we have tried to have as many curries as possible and payasam. It will be served on a plantain leaf placed on a tray," Jayaprakash said. Oman Air, which has been celebrating the Kerala festival for a few years, has printed special menu cards for flights to and from Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. "Attractive menu cards, specially printed for this occasion, will also be distributed to the passengers. This popular festival of Kerala, celebrated by Oman Air for several years on board its flights, has been evoking great enthusiasm amongst the passengers,"said M.A. Althaf, Oman Air's chief, here. Air India chief H. Munaf said the decision to serve a special Onam lunch has been limited to Air India Express flights. "It would be served on all Air India Express flights from all the three airports in Kerala. As for all Air India flights, the decision is still awaited," said Munaf. Passengers travelling by Kuwait Airways and Gulf Air may not be lucky to get Onam meals. "Our food requirements are sourced from Kuwait and hence we will not be offering the traditional Onam sadya," said Oommen Mathew, the head of Kuwait Airways, here. A Gulf Air official said: "Gulf Air is the carrier of the Gulf and we won't be serving an Onam meal and we have never done it before." However, in a separate statement, the airline said that it would be serving Onam dessert onboard its aircraft, and particularly on flights to India coming in from Muscat and Bahrain. "The Onam desert will be served for the economy class and also as an additional dessert for the first class and business class passengers," said the statement.
-Sept 1, 2006