Onam celebrated in Saudi Arabia with imported banana leaves

JEDDAH: The expatriate Malayali community from Kerala, the largest ethnic bloc of Indians in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries in the region, celebrated the Onam festival on Friday.
The ten-day harvest festival is celebrated by the Malayali community irrespective of religious beliefs and social status.
Onasadaya (the special festive meal) and Pookkalam (flower carpet) are the main features of the festival, with many households trying to make it as elaborate as possible with five to 64 varieties of vegetable curries served up on banana leaves.
Supermarkets and restaurants chains ran special campaigns and promotions in the run-up to the event. In Jeddah alone, about 50 tons of fresh vegetables including banana leaves from Kerala were imported for the Onam festival, traders said.
Since Onam fell on Friday, which is part of the weekend in the Gulf, it added to the festive spirit among Malayalis in the kingdom. Bachelors rushed to restaurants to feast on Onasadaya as the many Malayali restaurants in Jeddah rose to the occasion. People waited in queues for their Onasadaya meal.

Prices of an Onasadaya meal ranged between SR 35-55 depending upon number of curries served. Banana leaves imported from Kerala, on which the fresh vegetables were cooked and served, played an important part in the festive meal. The Metro Restaurant in Sharafiyah, Jeddah witnessed the highest rush of customers, sources said.
“Onam was meant for us - we celebrated and ate the Onasadaya meal together with people from our area,” Junaise KT said.

The Trivandrum NRI Association celebrated the festival along the shores of the Red Sea at Obhur beach in Jeddah. Various labour camps also celebrated Onam in different parts of the kingdom.
Supermarkets and restaurants chains ran special campaigns and promotions to attract customers in Dammam and Riyadh besides Jeddah. Saudi nationals from the southern provinces owning banana plantations also sold banana leaves to Malayalis on the occasion of Onam.
The festival will contintue to be celebrated for another week across all of Saudi Arabia.