A colourful rally of caparisoned elephants, floats and folk-dance performances marked the `Athachamayam` celebrations in Tripunithura on Friday, heralding the start of the 10-day `Onam` festivities in Kerala.

The beginning of the festivities was officially inaugurated by Kerala Assembly Speaker A N Shamseer, who, referring to the recent natural disaster in Wayanad, said that everything can be lost in a moment and therefore, we should be able to move forward together by showing love and respect to each other.