My culture

As my previous post said, I am a born Malaysian but I also  mentioned that we are derived of many cultures and beliefs. So, this time it is to share about my culture. I am an Indian and I follow the religion of Hinduism. Instead of talking about the typical explanation about Indians itself. I would like to talk about the ethnic groups we are divided into. Not many people know this but we are divided into several ethnic groups. Some are Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and many more. I, on the other hand, am a Malayalee(also known as Malayali). However not all Malayalees are Hindus. There are Malayalee -Christian , and Malayalee-Muslim as well.

My mother tongue is Malayalam. Me and my immediate cousins cannot read or write Malayalam. However, our parents can read, write and speak Malayalam. Most of us Malayalees are originated in Kerala. As a Malayalee, I celebrate two main festivals which are Vishu and Onam. Vishu is the Malayalee New Year whereas Onam is the harvest festival. There are other festivals as well celebrated by the Malayalees.

Vishu

Prayer room with food

Vishu wishes

On Vishu, the elders would decorate the prayer room, food will also be laid on the floor and there will be a mirror as well. The younger ones have to wake up early on Vishu morning with eyes blindfolded. Once they reach the prayer room, their blindfolds will be removed so that the first thing they see would be the decorated prayer room.
This is one of the famous songs sung on Vishu: 

Onam

Onam greeting card

Onam is the harvest festival. I personally look forward to Onam more than Vishu because it is one of the most exciting festival in my culture. We get a variety of food. In Kerala, the festival is celebrated more grandly with snake boat race, flower decorations on the floor that we call 'pookalam'.

We also have our own clothing called the 'Kerala Saree' which is usually a white Saree with a gold border.
Just a little bit more input, click here to find out a bit on Malayalee weddings. The information about Malayalee weddings is too long but the irony is as far as I know, eventhough information is long, Malayalee weddings last only about 30minutes.

The festival is marked with offerings to the divine called Vishukanni. The offerings consists of a ritual arrangement in the puja room of auspicious articles like rice,linen, cucumber, betel leaves, matal mirror, holy text and coins in a bell metal vessel called uruli.A lighted bell metal lamp called nilavilakku is also placed alongside. This arrangement is completed by the women of the house during the previous night. On the day of Vishu, it’s a custom to wake up at dawn and go to the puja room with the eyes closed so that the first thing a person sees is the Vushukanni. The Vishukanni is later distributed among the poor. People wear new clothes for the occasion and the elders in the family distribute tokens of money to the children, servants and tenants. These tokens are called Vishukkaineetam and are usually in the form of coins. People carry out this custom believing that in this way, their children would be blessed with prosperity in the future.

Vishu is considered to be a day of feasting, wherein the edibles consist of roughly equal proportions of salt, sweet, sour and bitter items.Feast items include Veppampoorasam (a bitter preparation of neem) and Mampazhapachadi (a sour mango soup). - See more at: http://www.malayalifestivals.com/malayalifestivals/vishu/aboutvishu/#sthash.Eqds7jPi.dpuf

The festival is marked with offerings to the divine called Vishukanni. The offerings consists of a ritual arrangement in the puja room of auspicious articles like rice,linen, cucumber, betel leaves, matal mirror, holy text and coins in a bell metal vessel called uruli.A lighted bell metal lamp called nilavilakku is also placed alongside. This arrangement is completed by the women of the house during the previous night. On the day of Vishu, it’s a custom to wake up at dawn and go to the puja room with the eyes closed so that the first thing a person sees is the Vushukanni. The Vishukanni is later distributed among the poor. People wear new clothes for the occasion and the elders in the family distribute tokens of money to the children, servants and tenants. These tokens are called Vishukkaineetam and are usually in the form of coins. People carry out this custom believing that in this way, their children would be blessed with prosperity in the future.

Vishu is considered to be a day of feasting, wherein the edibles consist of roughly equal proportions of salt, sweet, sour and bitter items.Feast items include Veppampoorasam (a bitter preparation of neem) and Mampazhapachadi (a sour mango soup). - See more at: http://www.malayalifestivals.com/malayalifestivals/vishu/aboutvishu/#sthash.Eqds7jPi.dpuf