Piyush Kukrety expresses his Kala-Shakti and takes us through a visually enticing journey of Pookalams (traditional flower decoration of Kerala) using various flowers and leaves sourced from his own surroundings.
Onam, the widely celebrated festival of God’s own country – Kerala, started off as a simple harvest festival. Over the years it became a confluence of nature-culture, a saga of myth-history and all about the joy of little things coming together to awaken our sensory connection with the world. It is a festival that is about ayurvedic way of eating, giving way to one’s expression – Kala shakti through pookalam (traditional flower decoration) Thiruvathira (Kerala’s traditional folk dance), Pulikali (folk art form), Onam games. Overall an opportunity to be grateful for all that mother nature gives us as the bounty of this harvest festival.
Onam is celebrated over a period of 10 days, and on each day there is a tradition of making Kalams (floor designs) with flowers.
Piyush shares ‘I decided to make Pookalams all by myself this year. Traditionally these Pookalams are made with flowers bought from the local florists or flower market. Due to these challenging lock down times, I wasn’t hopeful that I find a lot of them in and around my area. However something within me nudged me to explore nature in my own vicinity. I would set out on my bicycle daily exploring and I would end up collecting several beautiful varieties of flowers. The need for visiting the florist thus never arose. These 10 days have enabled me to understand my surroundings better. I am now more familiar with the trees and plants thriving around me, and I’m glad that they make life more happy and beautiful just by existing!’
Here are the ten stunning flower decoration designs:
