Malyalees make 14-foot flower rangoli at Thane station to celebrate Onam

The season of festivals continues with Onam being celebrated on September 14. The harvest festival of Kerala will be celebrated by Malyalees across India Today. To celebrate, the All Thane Malyalee Association (ATMA), will make a 14-foot flower rangoli at Thane station.

The rangoli, which will be made on platform no.10 near the ticket counter of Thane (East) station, will have 30 volunteers working on the rangoli.

"Over 200kg flowers of all colors have been used to make this rangoli that will be put together by our volunteers," says Shashikumar Nair, general secretary, ATMA. "We will use petals to make the rangoli instead of the flowers this time," he says.

The flower rangoli or Pookalam is made by Malayalees during Onam every year. "In the village, we had huge open space outside our house. This is not possible in cities where we stay in flats with very little open space, so we decided to come together and make a huge rangoli in an open space in the city itself," he said.

Since four years, the association which is the apex body of over 14 Malayalee associations in Thane, with 6000 members, has been making these Pookalams at Thane station. "Last year, we made a portrait of late president APJ Abdul Kalam using flowers which was on display for two days. This time, the rangoli is of petals which will dry away soon. Hence, it will be there only for a day for people to see," he adds.