Onapookalam or Athapookalam

Onapookalam was the essential part of Onam in my childhood days but Now these days Onapookalam is one of competition item for Onam season. During Onam season the competition of making Onapookalam is a passion for more than few years. These competitions are arranged in offices, public places, and various organizations.

Commonly we are making onapookalam with flowers, but we can made it easily with crystal salt and color powders. The salt is mixing with color powders, different colors are mixing with crystal salts to make the feel of flowers. during Onam season the cost of flowers will rise in the market. getting flowers from our home surroundings is not practical now these days. so we can reduce our cost of pookalam using crystal salt and various colors.

In my childhood days onapookalam was not an expense item. We were collecting flowers from our home surroundings, we are a group of children We were collecting flowers and colored leafs from our home surroundings, the memory of those days is very sweet. Some of the flowers that seems widely during that Onam season they are Kakkapoo, a dark violet colored flower widely showed at paddy fields, Thumbapoo, most important flower of Onapookalam, it is very small, shape of a little bird, and white colored flower widely seen at home surroundings during my childhood days but today's we can see it very rare. Kammalpoo, a stud shaped and yellow colored flower this is most comfortable for Onapooklam. More than these flowers we were collecting lot of flowers we do not know the name of that local flowers. But today's we cannot see this flowers anywhere, buying flowers is the only way to making Onapookalam.

In my childhood days, the Onapookalam was the essential part of Onam festival, it would made infront of all homes, on the floor. but today onam is the festival of purchasing like cloths,home appliances etc.