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ONAM / STORY BEHIND ONAM/ TIME OF ONAM CELEBRATION / THE CELEBRATIONS / ATHTHA POOKALAM / THRIKKAKARA APPAN/ ONAM SATHYA / SNAKE BOAT RACE / ONAPPAATTU / ONAM AND KERALA / ONAM AND SOUTH INDIA
ONAM
- Onam is the national festival of the Malayalees.
It is a festival quite unique to Kerala. Like
all other traditional festivals, the promotion
of amity and social cohesion is the aim of celebrating
Onam.
STORY BEHIND ONAM
- The legend of Mahabali and Vamana lends a macabre
backdrop to the festival. Bali was a king of Kerala
who took the virtue of giving gifts to remarkable
extremes. He was a good ruler, so the story goes.
The land was plentiful and the people happy. This
irked some of those superior beings who go under
the appellations of Devas. Persuaded by them,
Lord Vishnu took the diminutive form of Vamana,
a brahmin kid. Vamana approached Bali and asked
for three steps of land Bali granted his request
against the explicit advice of his technical advisor,
guru, a tradition the governments in Kerala have
followed without fail ever since.
Vamana covered
the heavens and the earth and all known land with
two steps. Having run out of places to put his
foot down, Vamana placed his last step on the
head of Bali and pushed him somewhere into the
nether world. As a parting gift Maha Bali was
granted permission to visit his old kingdom once
a year. That is the time of Onam.
This poignant
story has been interpreted in many ways. Some
believe it symbolizes the Aryan conquest of Kerala.
It also has a pathetic touch of nostalgia of a
people who know nothing but hardship and oppression
in daily life, have nothing much to hope about
future and console themselves that things cannot
have been so bad all the time.
TIME OF ONAM CELEBRATION
- Onam is the festive highlight of the first month
of the Malayalam calendar. Chingam (August-September)
is the time of harvest in Kerala. After the rain
drenched Karkidakam with its privations, Chingam
is a welcome month of plenty. This is celebrated
with traditional malayalee fervour with family
get-togethers and gifting each other clothes,
called Ona-kkodi.
THE CELEBRATIONS
- The Onam festival commences with ATHAM and lasts
for a fortnight culminating on the Uthirittathi.
The most important celebrations are on four days-
Uthradam, Thiruvonam, Avittom and Chathayam. There
will be mirth and jollity among all people especially
among the younger folk during the entire Onam
season. The climax of the festival is on Thiruvonam
Day.
On that day every one takes bath and offers
worship in the temples. Then the gayest apparel
is put on. Then there is the grand feast which
is called 'Onam Sadhya'. After the feasting, there
will be sports and games, in which every one participates
according to his inclination. People physically
and mentally participate in the festival by singing
and through various games. To the youngsters,
Onam is the time for rejoicing. It is the time
for getting together with friends, relatives and
grand parents.
In Trichur, a vibrant procession
with resplendently caparisoned elephants is taken
out while at Cheruthuruthy, people gather to watch
Kathakali performers enact scenes from epics and
folk tales. Pulikali, also known as Kaduvakali
is a common sight during Onam season. Performers
painted like tigers in bright yellow, red and
black, dance to the beats of instruments like
udukku and thakil.
ATHTHA POOKALAM
- One of the highlights of traditional Onam festivities
is the aththa-poo, an auspicious floral decoration
that is made in the compound of the house. Usually
circular in shape, it is often multi-tiered, and
up to four or five meters across. It is decorated
with leaves, flowers and petals of different kinds.
A flower is dedicated to each day of Onam, and
predominates the decorations.
 This
colourful flower decoration lasts for ten days
from Atham day to the festive Thiruvonam day.
Different flowers are used daily. On the next
day of Onam, Thumba flowers along with leaves
and stems are used to decorate this pookalam.
This will remain untouched for the next 15 days.
On the 15 day i.e. on the Ayilyam day the pooklam
will again be decorated with various flowers.
The next day, on Magam day this pooklam will get
cut in the four corners with knife and that ends
the pookalam decoration of that year.
Even now Pookalam (flower decorations) competitions
are conducted through out Kerala on the day of
Onam and the best Pookalam are rewarded with traditional
prizes.
THRIKKAKARA APPAN
- Onam is symbolized by icons that are literally
earthy. Made of clay or mud, these conical objects
are adorned with flowers and worshipped as Thrikkakara
Appan, symbolizing the Vamana avatharam of Lord
Vishnu, which is central to the Onam legend.
ONAM SATHYA
- The festive lunch on Onam day is called as Onam
sathya. It is a grand feast indeed, even in the
poor man's hut. Rice is the main item and along
with it several sorts of curries or vegetable
preparations including various kinds of puddings.
Traditionally a minimum of 21 dishes like, Aviyal,
Curry Narenga, Injipuli, Injithair, Moru Curry,
Pacchadi, Paysam, Pradhaman, Theeyal, Thoran,
pappadam, eriseri, acchar, etc. are served for
lunch.
SNAKE BOAT RACE
- At Aranmulla, where there is a temple dedicated
to Lord Krishna and Arjuna, thousands of people
gather on the banks of the river Pampa to witness
the exciting snake boat races. Nearly 30 chundan
vallams or snake boats participate in the festival.
Singing traditional boat songs, the oarsmen, in
white dhotis and turbans, splash their oars into
the water to guide their boats to cruise along
like a fish on the move.
The golden lace at the
head of the boat, the flag and the ornamental
umbrella at the center make it a spectacular show
of pageantry too. Each snake boat belongs to a
village along the banks of the river Pampa and
is worshipped like a deity. Every year the boat
is oiled mainly with fish oil, coconut shell,
and carbon mixed with eggs to keep the wood strong
and the boat slippery in the water. The village
carpenter carries out annual repairs lovingly
and people take pride in their boat, which represents
their village and is named after it.
ONAPPAATTU
- The swing is another integral part of Onam,
especially in the rural areas. Young men and women,
decked in their best, sing Onappaattu, or Onam
songs, and rock one another on swings slung from
high branches.
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ONAM AND KERALA
- The festival is now officially a week long,
a far cry from its gloriuos 28-day past in Kerala.
From the time Onam was recognized as a national
festival in 1961, governments in Kerala have celebrated
Onam with great pomp. More pomp than the State
can afford, at times. But the Onam, like tradition,
is not what it used to be. Thala-pandu-Kali, and
Kuttiyum-Kolum are now nearly extinct as forms
of sport. Kayyam-kali, of course remains, and
not just on Onam days. The entertainments now
associated with Onam, like Puli-kali apparently
are not even indigenous to Kerala.
ONAM AND SOUTH INDIA
- Onam being celebrated in Tirupati also confirms
the fact that Onam was popular in the southern
region before becoming confined to Kerala after
the 10th century AD.
Mangudy Marudanar,
one of the noted poets of the Sangam Age, is said
to have Commemoration Of A Glorious Past described
the Onam celebrations in the Pandyan capital of
Madurai in one of his poems. Onam has been around
for a long time. Apparently it used to be celebrated
during the Sangam period in the first few centuaries
C.E.
Onam festivities have been recorded during
the time Kulasekhara Perumals (800 C.E.). Those
were the days when Onam used to be a full month
long.
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