Fifty-two teams vied in true festive spirit to bag prizes at the ninth edition of Parle-The Hindu MetroPlus Pookkalam Contest held at Oberon Mall here on Saturday.
As the result was announced, Navodaya team led by Poornesh won the first prize, getting richer by the Rs.20,000 cash prize.
The first runner-up prize went to Pals Puthenchira led by Vinod I.S. and the second runner-up title went to Casino Hotel team led by Raj Kiran.
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The judges for the pookkalam contest were Aji Adoor and Satheesh K.K., teachers of RLV College, Thripunithura.
Earlier in the day, another contest was held to zero in on the best traditionally-dressed team. The title went to Rainbow Youth Association led by Anusree. Designer Arshiya Naina, who judged the contest, said she was impressed with the colour coordination of the team members; they wore traditional outfits dominated by leaf green and also adorned traditional jewels. “The group stood out by their distinct colour. The event was very well conducted and had the ‘Onam feel’, with so many people gathering under one roof,” she said.
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For the best traditional dress
The prize for best traditionally dressed woman went to Mehasa, while Alan Loy walked away with the prize for men. “The royal blue chattayum mundum that Mehasa wore was wrapped in Onam style. Her traditional jewellery too stood out. Selecting the man was tough since I did not see anyone wearing veshti . Hence I picked the guy who wore a silk maroon kurti and kasavu mundu ,” Ms. Naina said.
A lunch was organised for the participants.
The second and third prize winners in the contest received cash prize of Rs.12,500 and Rs.7,500 and gifts worth Rs.10,000 each.
Ten teams won consolation prizes of Rs.1,500 each and gifts worth Rs.4,000. All teams that participated got Rs.1,500 as reimbursement for the cost of flowers and also gifts worth Rs.2,000.
Parle Biscuit crunch contest was held for children and women, following which gift hampers were given to winners. A diamond ring was presented to Indu Lakshmi, the winner of the Chungath Jewellery ‘Name the ornament and predict the weight contest’.
The title sponsor of the event was Parle Products, while the State Bank of Travancore and Chungath Jewellery were the ‘powered-by’ sponsors.
Sprinkle Salt was the associate sponsor and MediaOne, the TV partner. Oberon Mall was the venue partner.
The gift sponsors were Preethi Kitchen Appliances, Vismaya Sarees, Kapex Rice, Ripple Tea, Njuze mango drink from Nest group, Periyar Rice, Hairomax, Pantaloons and Vinayaka Foods and Beverages.