I would like to wish every one of my MaLayAlam friends a happy and prosperous ONam festival.

That is what we refer to as a “ guruvAyoor viLakku”…made in the typical Kerala style (it generally has no “muhappu” or tip ornament))

It is surrounded by the typical ornamentation of ONam..pookkOlam, or kOlam with flowers.

And here’s wishing that peace and plenty be your lot, especially plenty of good food!

That is the Anna Sadhya (the feast) on the banana leaf.

From right to left, at the top of the leaf (er, someone correct me if I am wrong):

pacchadi, koottu, erishEri, thOran,aviyal, kALan, and pappadAm (that’s the lovely part of the meal, crunching the crisp pappadAm into the rice!)

On the second tier, paruppu; chOru (parboiled rice) with sAmbAr poured into it, to be mixed; and a vAzhai pazham (banana)

On the bottom half of the leaf (south of the “equator” and to the left) …three varieties of pickle – elimicham pazham (lemon), nArthangai (lime) and puLi inji (tamarand-and-ginger).

The glass contains shukku veLLam, warm water that’s been boiled with a little dry ginger, which is excellent for the throat.

The sAmbAr-and-rice will be followed by rasam-and-rice, then the pAyasam (sweet porridge, YUMMMMM) will be served (it’s quite literally finger-licking good, as we lick it up with our fingers!) and the mOr (buttermilk)-and-rice to end the meal.

Slurp. Burp. Zzzz!

Wish you all the very best.