Kerala, India, harvest festival celebrated on Long Island

More than 200 people came to New Hyde Park on Friday evening, gathering for the first time in three years to celebrate the Indian harvest of Onam.

The harvest celebration marks the end of the monsoon season and the rice harvest in the state of Kerala in southern India. 

Friday night kicked off Onam with a senior wellness program in an event space at Clinton G. Martin Park, ahead of the festival Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Knanaya Community Center in West Hempstead.

Festivities on Friday were organized by ECHO, the organization also known as Enhance Community through Harmonious Outreach. 

Legend says the celebration of the harvest season is for a beloved Indian King Mahabali  who was allowed by the gods to return from the netherworld to celebrate the harvest with his people.

"He did everything for his people so the gods gave him one time to visit them every year," ECHO chairman Thomas Mathew said. "During the harvest festival people are happy and  celebrate as if everything is good because in every country everyone gets good and fed." 

And this year was truly a return to better times, Mathew said. The event has been canceled for the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So this year the crowd of mostly seniors and some immigrants from Kerala gathered for the annual traditional feast of Sadhya, consisting of more than 20 mostly vegetarian traditional dishes.

"It is as if times are good again and a time to forget the past and move on with the future," Mathew said. 

The celebration began with a procession of traditional Indian drums known as Chenda Melam. The percussion performance led women wearing traditional Indian attire carrying plates of flowers known as Thalappoli. 

The flowers are known to signify a welcome for the gods and a reflection on the harvest, Mathew said.

Onam revelers gathered for music, including the U.S. and Indian national anthems, dancing performances and the traditional lighting of a lamp.

Several local officials issued proclamations for ECHO for organizing the festival and hosting senior activities at Clinton G. Martin Park every Friday evening, 

Nassau County's Office of Asian American Affairs, North Hempstead Supervisor Jennifer DeSena, Nassau Comptroller Elaine Phillips and state Sen. Kevin Thomas (D-Levittown) marked the celebration, which initially started with only a couple dozen people and nurtured immigrants and senior wellness and mental health. 

"We forget how hard things were for years," DeSena said. "Government tries to help people but we need community leaders. When you invite them, they come and we see how quickly it grew from nothing to a full house."