2. Harvest Festival competition and Uthrada pachil
We know that the main event of the Harvest Festival in m!ik was to hunt for important ingredients for the feast. We have a day for a similar activity. It's called "Uthrada pachil". Uthradam is the name given to that particular day, in our calendar. This year, Uthradam was yesterday (September 7).
On this day people rush to the Market and flood the city in search of ingredients for the preparation of "sadhya" (feast). This is what the students did too. They scoured the forest in search of ingredients! Sadhya is a vegetarian meal and we have it on thiruvonam which is today (September 8). I had a delicious sadhya 😁. Not only is it delicious. It's served on plantain leaf. This is the sadhya I had today.
We don't have all the curries and chutneys but it was delicious. This serving reminds me of Iruma and Lied who had their food on vessels made of leaves.
In the past our ancestors used to have food in vessels like these. We commemorate it during Onam. This also shows return to Nature and forest where it all began. This Harvest festival arc in mairuma also taught the students to appreciate nature.
