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KERALA, INDIA, September 6, 2003: The festival of Onam commences from Monday in Kerala and many homes roll out flower carpets, locally known as athappoo. The flower carpet welcome is for the legendry King Mahabali. Efforts are being made to revive this floral tradition for which a competition was organized in Kochi. Many people took part in that competition for the very first time. “People used to decorate floral carpets with natural flowers. Now it has changed to leaves, dry flowers and different powders. The celebration itself has changed a lot from the past,” said K K Warier, a judge at the competition. Onam marks the end of the monsoon but it also coincides with the Malayalam New Year thus adding significance to the festival. Besides the very popular snake boat races, fairs are organized and this year’s Onam promises to be a memorable one.

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