while the onam celebrations started last sunday with various organisations across the city conducting cultural fests most of the festivities will kickstart after the tiruvonam day the final day of the 10 day celebrations that falls on friday the festivities start with atham the first day of the tenday festival and from this day flower carpets are set before houses to welcome king mahabali to add to the grandeur most events this year are starstudded with actors from malayalam film industry participating in the programmes families said that they while back home they would stick to the traditional recipes while celebrating the festival here in hyderabad most of the traditional goodies are bought from kerala stores which would have stocked up these items much in advance to make sure that the malayalee community in the city gets to participate in as many onam functions as possible several organizations have decided to conduct their celebrations on the coming sundays unlike the previous years when the traditional feast was prepared by families in the community this year the community members have employed caterers to serve the 18course meal for hundreds of people who would be flocking to celebrate the festival in the function that is organised by the kerala handlooms association stars like mukesh and kaveri are participating so there is very little that we miss of kerala flavour in hyderabad said renjini menon a resident of picket in hyderabad most malayalee households stick to this routine of making flower carpets even amidst busy schedule of the city life said m sasikumar a malayalee from a s rao nagar when compared to the previous year the number of people participating in the festivities has increased by 30 per cent organisers said there are hotels in the city that are helping us with the festivities we want to make it very colourful said pradeep nambiaar executive member nair service society that conducted onam celebrations on september 4 we get almost everything that is traditionally made in kerala including sarkaravaratti and payasam sweet dish in these stores the whole idea is to make it as grand as possible this year though several members of the malayalee community have already gone to their home towns to celebrate the festival with family those who have stayed back too have been celebrating it in a big way as we have recovered from the recession this onam is in fact special for most people hyderabad in another event to be organised in the city at jayalakshmi gardens in tirumulgherry by maitri a cultural organization devan a film star from kerala will be participating those hailing from gods own country could be missing the scenic splendour of their home land during this festive season but to make up for the loss they are celebrating onam the lands harvest festival in a big way this time here in the city among the many community groups that are conducting grand celebrations are kerala handlooms associations that will hold a mega cultural