Missing God’s own country and its festivals are next to impossible. Whether you are local to Kerala or away from Kerala, you must visit this place during the Onam festival. The entire district decks itself out with flower rangolis, and the men and women dress up in their traditional Kerala dhoti and saree. Throughout Onam week, they celebrate different cultural festivals.
Boat Race during Onam in Kerala
In short, Onam is similar to Diwali in the north. Let’s get deeper into the roots of the Onal festival.
Onam Festival and Its Origin
Onam is the harvest festival in the southern part of India, predominantly in Kerala. In honor of the legendary king Mahabali, the festival is observed. The king ruled Kerala at some point, and the state enjoyed good governance during his reign. However, the gods became jealous of him and sent Vamana to conspire against him. Vamana traveled to earth as a dwarf brahmin and asked Mahabali for three feet of land according to his wish. Being a generous person, he agreed to grant the wish. Unfortunately, cunning Vamana measured the entire universe in his first two steps, leaving no place to keep his third step. The king offered his head to step on to fulfill his sacrilege. And that is how the generous deity king Mahabali is sent to the netherworld.
However, witnessing the noble act of the king, Vishnu granted the king a wish that he could visit his land once a year. Since then, Keralites have celebrated this homecoming as Onam.
On his last day on earth, Mahabali had a nine-course vegetarian meal known as the Onasadya feast.
Another Onam legend tells of Parashurama, a Vishnu manifestation who built the western ghats from the southern points of Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, and Maharashtra. It happened due to the anger of Vishnu toward the kings, and it took the Parashurama incarnation to kill the kings. During King Kaartavirya’s reign, he prosecuted and tortured people, sages, gods, and everyone. He and his supporters restored the hermitages of Parashurama and his mother, Renuka. The god was away when the tyrant snatched the calf from its mother. Upon his return, Parashuram felt anger and called war against the ruler. After the end of the war, he threw off his axe, and where the axe fell, Kerala was created.
Some people also say that Parashuram took the Namboodiri brahmins to the southern part of India and created the mountain range with his axe. And the Onam festival is celebrated as the origin of Kerala.
The Onam festival has recently been observed by Hindu Keralites during the rice harvesting season.
Onam festival and celebrations
Onam starts on the first day of the first month according to the Malayalam calendar, marking the Malayalam New Year. It continues for 10 days and ends with Thiruvonum. Those 10 days, in order, are Atham, Chithira, Chodi, Vishakam, Anizham, Thriketa, Moolam, Pooradam, and Thiruvonum. Among the 10 days, the first and last days are important among the Keralites and Malayalee communities.
The festival starts from the Thrikkakara temple in Kochi, which is considered to be the home of Mahabali, by raising the festival flag, holding a parade, a boat race, and different cultural festivals. Men and women across the state wear traditional clothes. Men wear white clothes such as dhotis or lungis, while women wear the traditional Kerala saree or Kasavu.
Athachamayam
The Onam festival starts with a parade called Athachamayam or Thripunithura Athachamayam. The parade includes elephants marching on the road with decorations and drum beats; music; folk art forms; and dances wearing masks and colorful dresses. The parade illustrates scenes from the Mahabharata and Ramayana. In recent times, some scenes from the Bible can be seen as well.
Throughout the years, the parade path has remained the same, that is, from Tripunithura to the Vamanamoorthy temple in Ernakulam district. The temple is that of Vishnu in his Vamana avatar. After arriving at the temple, the participants in the parade offer their prayers.
Pookkalam
Pookkalam, or "flower rangoli," is done by cutting flower petals of different tints into little pieces to create a pattern on the floor. Along with the flower petals, several lamps are placed around the design as the design requires. It is done mostly in temples or at the entrance to their homes. The women and girls of different ages sit together and use their artistic minds to create a pattern on the floor. Upon completion, a delicate umbrella-type thing is hung with tiny festoons over it.
The rangoli preparation starts on the first day of Onam, i.e., Atham. The first day of Pookkalam is called Athapoo, and it is tiny in size. As the Onam festival progresses, the size of the flower rangoli increases. In Kerala, a lot of homes have statues of Mahabali or Vamana outside the front door.
Furthermore, Pookkalam included flowers that are abundant in Kerala, with 10 types of flowers. However, nowadays, various flowers have been used to make the flower rangoli.
Music and dance
Kerala has a rich cultural influence on music and dance. With so many traditional dance forms, Kerala is famous all over the world. Some of the popular dance forms are Kummattikali, Pulikali, Thumbi Thullal, Onam Kali, and so on. Among them, the women in a circle around a lamp perform a type of dance known as Thiruvathira Kali. Kummattikali is a dance form with a colorful mask. There are processions of elephants dressed for the occasion during the festivals in some parts of Kerala. Surrounding the elephants, Kummattikali dancers walk.
Onam Kali is a form of dance where the dancers arrange themselves in circles around a lamp, tree, or pole and sing songs from the Ramayana and other myths.
Kathakali Dancer Performing during Onam Festival
The traditional dance forms of Kerala attract tourists from all over the world. Among the dance forms, Kathakali dance is also performed during this time. The dancers portray the characters of various ancient Indian legends. Traveling to Valluvanad during the Onam festival will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience with classical Kathakali dance.
Pulikali
Pulikali, also known as the Tiger Dance or Kaduvakali, is another common practice during the Onam festival. The dance forms include dancers dressed and painted as tigers who move to the beats of traditional instruments Chenda and Thakil. It is visible predominantly in Thrissur. And people from not just Kerala but all over the country visit Kerala to experience the traditional dance form.
Vallamkali
Another eye-catching activity during the Onam festival is Vallamkali or the snake boat race. Some of the popular boat races are Nehru Trophy Boat Race, Aranmula Uthrattadhi Boat race, Mannar Mahatma Boat race, Uthradom Thirunal Pamba Boat race, etc.
The iconic sight of the boat race is that more than 100 people row one long boat. There are teams with different boats and all of them race on the backwaters of Kerala. The rowers not only row but also carry traditional instruments to create sounds. Each boat carries the team flag along with Onam decorations. It is only visible in Kerala during the Onam festival. During the boat race, people from all over the world visit Kerala, making it important for Kerala tourism.
Onam Sadya
No festival is complete without food. Throughout Kerala, local people either make Onam Sadya or attend invitations. The feast is served on banana leaves with a minimum of nine types of dishes. Some of the common dishes are banana chips, Injipuli, Thoran, Mezhukkupuratti, Kaalan, Olan, Avail, Dal, and Sambhar. The dishes are served with a tiny amount of ghee, Rasam, Molosyam, Kichadi, Pachadi, sweet and sour pickles, coconut chutney, and a variety of payasam.
Kerala is very rich in culture, and the festivals are deeply rooted in each Keralite. Therefore, visiting Kerala during the Onam festival will not just be a trip but will give your eyes a different perspective on the festival. The entire state celebrates the festival in a simple yet beautiful way. So, if you are planning to travel to Kerala, you must do it during the Onam festival.
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