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Introduction

Cordial welcome to one and all to this auspicious occasion on which we celebrate Onam, a festival of

peace and prosperity and the grand finale of India Maldives Friendship week. Onam instils in us the

memory of a pleasant past in which peace and fraternity flourished, a kingdom where values and

virtues prevailed, an ideal place where there was no gloom or despair.

It is not just a coincidence, but a meaningful decision that we celebrate the friendship of India and

Maldives together with Onam.

We are extremely glad to have the esteemed presence of distinguished dignitaries amidst us. The

presence of the High Commissioner of India His Excellency .................................. adds to the

grandeur of this function with his presence. Your Excellency, on behalf of all gathered here, I extent

to you a very hearty welcome to this function. Mr......................... is also here to grace this occasion.

Sir, we extent to you a very warm welcome.

High Commissioner of India His Excellency........, Our chief guest ............, Chairman of India club ......

are all with us adding grandeur to this function. We extent our hearty welcome to each one of them

Now may I invite our esteemed chief guest and the dignitaries to come on to the dice to light the

lamp.

Honourable High Commissioner of India His Excellency, who has always been a source of inspiration

for all our programmes now addresses the gathering.

India Club has conducted several competitions in connection with Onam celebration. Now it is the

time to award the prizes to the winners. I humbly request ........................ to give away the prizes. Allthe winners are also requested to come on to the stage and accept their prizes as their names are

called.

Ladies and gentlemen now let us lend our ears to our chief guest ...........................

I invite Mr .................., chairman of India club to propose the vote of thanks

Here falls the curtain for the formal part. Let us now move on to the eagerly awaited part of the

function: the cultural programmes.

Onam Story

Onam a traditional harvest festival is the national festival of the Kerala, a southern state of India.

People of Kerala, the men and the women; the old and the young; the rich and the poor celebrate it

with great joy and enthusiasm; with songs, dances and games. The mouth of every Keralite waters at

the memory of Onasadhya, the banquet served on banana leaves with a variety of curries. Its

tantalizing smell has already wafted into this hall.

There is an interesting legend related to the great festival of Onam. Mahabali was a very powerful

and benevolent asura king and all his subjects were happy because he would grant all their wishes.

Seeing that, even the gods became jealous of him. They felt the king would become a threat to them

and requested Maha Vishnu to help them. Lord Vishnu, as Vamana, a young Brahmin using the kings

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weakness to grant all wishes, asked him for 3 feet of land. Mahabali happily obliged. Vamana grew

into a gigantic form and with one foot he measured earth and with the second He measured the sky

and asked the king where he could measure the third foot. Having realised it was Lord Vishnu

himself who came as Vamana, to honour his commitment, Mahabali showed his head to the Lord

and with that Bali was sent to the nether world. Before leaving the earth, he got a boon from Lord

Vishnu to visit his subjects every year. It is this annual arrival of Mahabali that the people of Kerala

celebrate with great pomp and splendour.

Cherish the spirit of Onam and enjoy its breathtaking vistas .... simply put your best foot forward and

gyrate to the clapping rhythms of Kaikottikali ...or indulge yourself in the adventure and thrill of

Onakalikal... Onam regales everyone to the hilt