Ex-teacher from Kerala's Kozhikode digs up Onam floral tradition with thumba blooms

KOZHIKODE: In a quiet initiative to restore native floral traditions to Onam celebrations, 59-year-old Sivadasan Kuniyil, a resident of Orkkatteri in Kozhikode, has successfully cultivated the thumba (Leucas aspera) flower on his plot.

Key points

• Previously, from the first day -Atham -to the tenth day of Onam, thumba was the primary flower applied in every household's pookkalam.
• According to Sivadasan, the plants have been blooming steadily for the past two weeks.
• As someone who is tasked with pookkalam competition evaluations, I rarely see indigenous flowers like thumba these days.

Historically an integral part of the traditional pookkalam laid during the ten days of Onam, the native white thumba flower has drastically declined throughout rural landscapes over recent years.

Sivadasan, a professional photographer, LIC agent and a former teacher with three decades of educator experience, undertook the experimental farming after noticing the absence of the indigenous blooms during pookkalam events and local celebrations.

Beginning his project almost three months ago, Sivadasan gathered wild seeds from temple premises and local patches to raise around 300 to 350 thumba saplings throughout approximately two cents of sunlit land on his property.

Utilising raised-bed techniques to protect the delicate plants from heavy rain, he synchronised the cultivation cycle – which requires roughly 90 days from seed sowing to full flowering – to align directly with the Onam festival season.

"Previously, from the first day -Atham -to the tenth day of Onam, thumba was the primary flower applied in every household's pookkalam. Today, it has completely vanished from our rural surroundings, " Sivadasan explained.

"As someone who is tasked with pookkalam competition evaluations, I rarely see indigenous flowers like thumba these days. That prompted me to collect seeds from temple yards and raise them systematically."

According to Sivadasan, the plants have been blooming steadily for the past two weeks. While this season's yield was intended as a pilot project alongside common marigolds (chendumalli), he expects the self-seeding nature of the crop to naturally expand the thumba patch throughout his land in subsequent years, helping preserve native floral heritage for future festival seasons.

Taken together, the developments around ex-teacher from Kerala' s Kozhikode digs up Onam floral tradition with thumba blooms point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.