Festival of joy & equality
Onam, a traditional harvest festival of Kerala, celebrated to welcome King Mahabali, is rich in culture and heritage. Onam, also known as Vamana Jayanthi, falls in the month of Chingam (August-September), which is the first month of the Malayalam calendar. It is the rainy season and everything seems green and fresh.
It calls for celebration with emphasis on family, food and fun. People decorate their houses with flowers; new clothes and utensils are purchased; there are lights everywhere and feasts are served on banana leaves along with dancing, sports and snake boat races.
Onam, the festival of rain flowers, commences 10 days before the actual day. On Atham or 10 days before Onam, people start the day with an early bath, perform puja, offer prayers and make rangolis or floral decorations in front of their houses to welcome King Mahabali. Pookalams or the flower decorations continue during these 10 days, beginning with Atham and culminating in the last day of Onam. Traditionally, the Pookalam consists of 10 small, round rings. Each day of Onam is to be represented on the Pookalam. On the first day, there will be only a single ring; the next day, which is Chithira, there will be two rings and on the 10th day or Thiruonam, there will be 10 rings. On the first day, a single colour flower is used; on the second day, two colours and on the final day 10 different colours of flowers are used. Symbolically the 10 rings represent 10 different Hindu deities. The floral carpet also shows the fight between devtas and demons.
The central feature of Onam is the grand feast called Onasadya. A wide variety of dishes are served on plantain leaves. There is a popular saying in Malayalam, “Kanam vittum Onam unnanam”, which means Onam feast should be prepared even if one has to sell all the seeds that are kept for sowing for the next harvest. After Onasadya, people visit as many temples as they can and engage in folk-games, songs and dances like oonjalattom, thumbi thullal, kaikattikali etc. Vallam Koli or snake boat races are also organised to mark the day.
Onam is considered a symbol of secularism because it banishes all chains of castes and religions. People try to live up to the image of the empire of King Mahabali when all people lived in harmony. Malayalam folk songs like Maaveli naadu vaanidum kalam… (When Mahabali, our king, ruled the land; all the people had equality. And people were joyful and merry; they were free from harm... No one cheated or wronged his neighbour; When Mahabali, our king, ruled the land, all people formed one casteless race.), are sung to glorify the kingdom of Mahabali. May this Onam shower a lot of happiness and prosperity on all.
Kulbir Kaur teaches sociology at Shyama Prasad Mukherji College, Delhi University
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