Abo ut
100 oarsmen row huge and graceful snake boats and men and women
come from far and near to watch the snake boats skim through
the water. Nearly 30 Chundan Vallams or snake boats participate
in the festival. Singing traditional boat songs, the oarsmen,
in white dhotis and turbans, splash their oars into the water
to guide their boats to cruise along like a fish on the move.
The golden lace at the head of the boat, the flag and the ornamental
umbrella at the center make it a spectacular display. Each snake
boat belongs to a village along the banks of the river Pampa
and is worshipped like a deity. Every year the boat is oiled
mainly with fish oil, coconut shell, and carbon, mixed with
eggs to keep the wood strong and the boat slippery in the water.
The village carpenter carries out annual repairs lovingly and
people take pride in their boat, which represents their village
and is named after it.
Food
All the courses in the meal are delicately balanced to add
to the flavour and aid digestion. The myriad coloured preparations
arranged on a fresh green banana leaf present a very beautiful
picture. The meal begins with the delicately-flavoured
parippu (cooked lentil), ghee (clarified butter), and papadams.
This is followed by the spicy sambar. The course that follows
the sambar varies from region to region. In some, sweet payasams
and prathamans round off the meal, while for others these are
followed by kalan, rasam, olan and buttermilk. As side dishes
there are several thorans, avial, kichadis, pachadis, pickles,
papadams, and curries. In some areas, a pickle is served along
with the payasam, to offset its sweetness. Erishery, a curry
made with pumpkin and red beans, or raw banana and yam, cooked
with slit green chillies, and seasoned with mustard seeds, red
chillies and scraped coconut, the main stay of sadyas, is rare
now. Chena Thand Thoran, Cheeda or Kaliodakya, rice flour mixed
with spices and rolled into small pellets and deep-fried in
oil are also uncommon items today.
Earlier about eight varieties of pickles, including those made
from different types of lemons and chillies were served on the
banana leaf. Today, three types - mango, lime and ginger - are
commonly seen. Earlier, an assortment of crisp chips made form
banana, jackfruit, various types of yam, and sometimes even
brinjal, were served at the tapering end of the leaf. Now only
banana and jackfruit chips are common. The Sharkaravaratti,
banana crisp fried and coated with jaggery, is still an integral
part of the feast. Prathamans and payasams are the highlights
of a sadya. It's a fact that whatever delicious food we have,
it never gives us the satisfaction that we get from an Onasadya.
That's the spirit of Onam!
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5:50:40 AM 
