Group celebrates Hindu harvest festival
MEMBERS of an Indian cultural group have celebrated an annual Hindu harvest festival at Fair Close Centre, Newtown Road.
The Newbury Malayalee Cultural Association (NMCA) celebrated the festival of Onam on Saturday with a large gathering enjoying traditional dances, dress and food.
The association was set up in 2009 when a small group of families missing the traditions of their native homeland of Kerala, a state in Southern India, decided to form a community to remember their home.
Member of the group Rakesh Alex said: “Our desire to connect and form a community hundreds of miles away from our homeland has grown into a beautiful tradition allowing families to get together and share the memories and traditions with their children and loved ones.
“What started as a small gathering in a church hall 13 years ago has grown to this event today with lots of new faces and old faces in attendance.
“Even people who have
moved to different parts of the UK have come back to reconnect with this extraordinary community.”
Onam is a major event for Keralites and it commemorates the Hindu legend of the deity Vamana and King Mahabali, a mythical king who once ruled Kerala.
Since forming, NMCA has been focused on spreading word and awareness of Malayalee culture locally and it is connected to the national forum Union of UK Malayalee Associations.
The group also carries out voluntary work within Newbury, working closely with Volunteer Centre West Berkshire and Community United Newbury.
Volunteer Centre West Berkshire director Garry Poulson also joined the celebrations at the weekend.