The celebration of a state festival
By: K S S Pillai
The festival of Onam is celebrated by Keralites on 15th September this year. The festival falls in the first month of the Malayalam calendar Chingam, falling in August–September after Karkitakam, the month of rains, dark clouds and diseases in general.
The sky will be clear, and there will be an atmosphere of prosperity and well-being. The harvest of paddy will be over and the farmers will be happy with their granaries full. It is rightly celebrated as a harvest festival throughout the state. The festival also showcases the state’s artistic and cultural diversity. It evokes a wave of nostalgia in Keralites.
In the past, young men and women usually learnt English typing and shorthand after passing out of their schools and went to North India, where it was easy to get a job as a stenographer. Even semi-skilled people would migrate to other parts of the country and abroad seeking greener pastures. They, irrespective of their religion, would visit their native places during the Onam festival.
The scenario has changed now. Keralites are found in large numbers in all corners of the country and have formed associations. After celebrating it at home, all assemble on a convenient date to celebrate it in groups. All people take part enthusiastically in the celebration.
They, along with their young ones, participate in various sports and cultural competitions, and the winners are awarded prizes, usually by one of the local heavy-weights on the day of the celebration. The Onam feast served on a banana leaf with traditional food items, will be an integral part of the celebration.
The festival has its origin in a legend. Mahabali, the noble Asura king, had transformed his kingdom into a heavenly place. He treated all his subjects equally. There was no poverty, crime or cruelty in his kingdom. His subjects adored him. The Deva King Indra, feeling threatened by Mahabali’s popularity, sought Lord Vishnu’s help to eliminate him. Though Mahabali was his devotee, Lord Vishnu agreed.
He, as a dwarf Brahmin boy called Vamana, visited Mahabali, who was performing a yagna. When the king promised to give the boy whatever he wanted, the latter said he needed just three paces of land. When the king agreed, Vamana suddenly grew in size and covered the entire land and water with one foot, and the sky with another.
Mahabali offered his head to place Vishnu’s third foot. Before sending him to Pathala or the netherworld, he granted a boon to the king to visit his land and people once a year, which became Onam. The place where this incident is believed to have taken place was called Trikalkkara, which later became Thrikkakara.
Onam is the official festival of the state which includes spectacular cultural events. It is the time to celebrate the state’s culture, tradition, and food and to come together as a community. It is a great example of brotherhood among people belonging to different religions.
One likes this unique characteristic of keeping one’s religion away from his daily life by the people of Kerala. We find people belonging to different religions in all political parties. Even inter-religious marriages are considered normal, which is unimaginable in other parts of the country.
The festival includes boat races of snake boats in the rivers full of water after the long monsoon months where the participants row the boats in tune with the Vanchipattu sung by the leaders. There will also be the traditional group dance called Thiruvathira around a bronze light Nilavilakku by the young women in similar dress, Pulikali or leopard dance by young men painted like leopards, Kummattikali, Thumbithullal, and Pookalam, which is a floral carpet decorated with flowers and petals on the dung-plastered courtyards in front of the house.
The celebration spans over ten days beginning with Atham. Schools and colleges close for the Onam vacation after examinations so that the students are without tension.
(The author is a retired professor of English. A regular contributor to ‘The Kashmir Vision’, his articles and short stories have appeared in several national and international publications)