onam with nature
Posted by rocksea on 04 Sep 2006 | Tagged as: india, photography, prakriti
Our ettukaliyude onappookkalam.. a spider’s web design (!!) evoking memories of the long lost Onam days I used to celebrate at home in Kerala. Photograph taken while I was at home during last Onam. Species: argiope. juvenile. These orb weaver (Family: araniedae) spiders decorate their webs with stabilimenta. They usually rest in a head down position on the web. As one approaches the web, they hold their position until the last moment before slipping round in a flash to hide on the other side of the stabilimentum.
Onathumbi. Species: Rhyothemis variegata variegata (male). Normally they are seen in the month of August till December and hence called Onathumbi. Attractive colors and their presence tells you Onam is here!
Species: Rhyothemis variegata variegata (female)
adding to the nostalgia of Onam season.. onathumbis hovering over..
Onam / Thiru Onam: Festival of Kerala, celebrated in the Chingam (Aug-Sep), the first month of Malayalam Calendar. In memory of a mythical King MahaBali (Maveli) who ruled Kerala eons back. Legend is that Kerala reached the zenith of its glory under his rule and he was so famous that gods became jealous and send God Vishnu to send him down to the netherworld. Anyways, before sending him down, Vishnu gave King Maha Bali a boon to visit his people once in a year. This day we celebrate as Onam, to welcome Mahabali. One of the most attractive aspects of thiruvonam is the pookkalam or the floral designs we make.
Sarah, celebrate this onam at home for me! 
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16 Comments »
on 04 Sep 2006 at 8:03 pm 1.roshni said …
heyyy.. onashamsakal..have a great day!!!
on 04 Sep 2006 at 8:43 pm 2.sarah said …
Roxychaya! look how even insects celebrate onam. And I will be celebrating this onam with you. You will be coming as my Mahabali…keep the promise.
I will be there to welcome you with our onappookkalam and a grand onam feast of at least of a few of the 30+ recipes. Watch out for the onathumbikal…I have sent a few and they are on their way to Sapporo to give you Onaashamsagal!!! 
on 05 Sep 2006 at 5:57 am 3.Gini said …
Wow! That first picture is ‘National Geographic’ worthy. Definitely made me home sick. Loved the post and the responses..it was quite romantic!!!
on 05 Sep 2006 at 7:48 pm 4.rocksea said …
roshni, onashamsakal !
sarahkuttie.. maveli prasadhichirikkunnu
gini,
am also wishing if i had been at home!
on 08 Sep 2006 at 1:10 am 5.Pidiyana said …
Onam greetings to both the Love Birds!!
I had a lovely Onam… I made it so!
on 08 Sep 2006 at 5:00 pm 6.Sarah said …
Onam wishes to you too Pidiyana! Looks like you had a real good time. I was home for this onam … and I was home for Roxy this onam
on 09 Sep 2006 at 4:50 am 7.naseem said …
Adipoli…picturesaaa…
on 12 Sep 2006 at 5:01 pm 8.Shreehari Gautam said …
Dear Rocksea,
Hello! I heard about you from Saseem. I am a PhD student in the veterinary faculty of Hokudai. Actually, one student from INDIA (Tamilnadu) is going to join this faculty from October. Before coming here he wants to contact somebody from India in Hokudai. Would you mind letting me know your (or, any one of your Indian friend’s) e-mail address so that I can pass it on to him. It will be of a very great help to him. If you would prefer to contact him directly, here is his e-mail address:
Please forgive me for asking for a favor through your personal blog. Best regards.
on 12 Sep 2006 at 5:05 pm 9.Shreehari Gautam said …
Hey! His e-mail address is not seen above. I type it here again shankar_phd@yahoo.co.in
on 22 Sep 2006 at 1:18 am 10.sarah said …
Oh samadhaanam ayee…thumbikal late ayallum, ethiyallo! Njan vicharichu inni vazhiyyum maari Australia ilekku poyo ennu! hehe…keep the card…all the onathumbies have impressed themselves on it.
on 23 Sep 2006 at 8:55 pm 11.Shiv said …
Nice pics of nature!! Hope u had a nice onam!!
on 04 Oct 2006 at 9:29 pm 12.Tinkerbells said …
How come no new posts for such a long time? Meanwhile, I got inspired by the pics in ur website and tried clicking away the kurunjis when i went to Munnar last week…but the snaps were not remotely near the quality u’ve achieved !!!
on 05 Oct 2006 at 9:47 am 13.rocksea said …
samayam kittandae tinkerbells. now am in the final stages of my phd.. Oh i wish i could be going around kerala like you even if i cant take snaps
So are you talking about neela kurinjis? As they bloom only once in 12 years. Or the kurinji you are refering to is a different species?
on 05 Oct 2006 at 9:52 am 14.rocksea said …
ya i checked and saw that the kurinjis had bloomed this year aug-sep! wow, so you had a chance to see them. next one in munnar is in 2018 only. sho!
on 15 Oct 2006 at 12:28 am 15.sam said …
Hey Roxy
Im just in love with your pics. especially the web and flower pic in the nature section. Awesome is also not the word. Its really really great. Hope you know me I sam juby’s friend in HSBC . Please do send me some of your stuff.
on 11 Mar 2007 at 2:02 pm 16.Sunil said …
അവസാനത്തെ ചിത്രം വളരെ പിടിച്ചു റോക്സീ, അത് ഞാനെടുക്കട്ടേ? അതുമാത്രം, പ്ലീസ്. -സു-