Uthrada Pachil takes Kerala by storm

Onam eve shopping frenzy in Kerala as families prepare for traditional feast despite recent natural disaster.

Onam shoppers strived to run down the clock on Saturday (September 14, 2024), the eve of Kerala’s Thiru Onam festival.

They thronged markets, flower shops and sweet meat stalls to prepare a sumptuous spread for friends and family on Sunday.

The holiday cheer seemed evident in the long queues before confectionaries sold payasam, bolis, and banana chips, obligatory delicacies for the traditional Onam feast.

The State government had called off official celebrations, given the catastrophic landslide which claimed 264 lives and razed three villages in Wayanad in July. 

Nevertheless, the low spirit evoked by the natural disaster appeared, arguably, on the wane as families crowded malls, electronic gadget stores, and textile showrooms, casting about for closing-hour bargain buys. 

Saturday, which marks the much-celebrated Uthrada Pachil”, a spurt of pre-Thiru Onam retail activity, is perhaps most evident in the iconic Chalai market in Thiruvananthapuram.

The confined shop-lined streets are abuzz with street vendors hawking products ranging from clothes, toys, trinkets, glass bangles, and imitation gold ornaments.