Onam: Carnival of Kerala

Festivities have always been a grand celebration in the cultural capital of the world, India. The number of cultures and traditions along with their festivals are so many that it is hard to keep track of. Every region has their own festivals with their own dates of celebration and if you are travelling across the country you might come across a celebration that you never knew of. However there are festivals and celebrations so grand in certain regions that almost the whole world is aware of. Among these few grand festivals that add colour and life to The Tradition of South Indian State, Onam is one that creates quite a stir.

The festival of Onam is celebrated in the southern part of the country and to be specific it is celebrated by the people of Kerala. The festival is celebrated with so much grandeur that it can be termed as a carnival of events. . Legend has it that the lord Vishnu ended the emperor Mahabali’s rule as he nearly conquered all three realms i.e. the heavens, the nether world and earth. However seeing that how much the King loved his people and empire he granted the emperor a boon to visit his kingdom once a year. Thus the festival of Onam is said to have come into being to celebrate the homecoming of the legendary emperor Mahabali and to commemorate the “Vamana” avatar of the God Vishnu who ended his reign. The festival is a ten day long one and is does not come short of a carnival due to the grand way in which it is celebrated. It has got everything from painted elephants putting on a show to Kathakali dancers and fireworks to exciting boat races.

The Atham day of the Malayalam month of Chingam marks the start of the celebration of the festivities and rests only after ten long fun filled days. This month of Chingam usually falls between the English calendar months of August-September. The celebration is started with a grand cultural procession of folk art presentations, decked elephants, music, dancing and much more. Also to be noted is that during this day “Pookalam”, a traditional floral design will is first laid in simple designs of yellow flowers that will grow each day of the festival with different coloured flowers making the design more intricate.

The second day is called as the Chithira and is marked with the addition of a second layer to the Pookalam with 2 colours apart from yellow. The cleaning of the household also starts on this day.

The third day is known as Chodi and marks the beginning of shopping activities. The Pookalam grows in size by the addition of more colours and designs.

The fourth day, Vishakam is considered to be one of the most auspicious days and marks the start of many festival related competitions.

Onam is well known for its boat races called as vallam kali which is the snake boat race. The fifth day, Anizham marks the start of these boat races.

The sixth day marks the beginning of the holiday season and the celebrations being held at a larger scale.

The seventh day which is known as Moolam is marked by the traditional buffet lunch but in a small version. The grand festivities also are on a roll from this day onwards with the masked leopard dance called as Puli Kali and traditional dances.

Pooradam, the eight day of the celebrations is marked by taking small statues of the king and Vamana around the house as if on a procession. The statues are then placed in the center of the Pookalam smeared with rice-flour batter.

Uthradom also known as first Onam is the ninth day of the festival. The day is said to be an auspicious one for shopping of fresh vegetables and other needful things. It is also said that on this day the emperor would descend on Kerala and spend the next four days touring his kingdom.

Thiruvonam, the tenth day marks the end of the festival and is known as second Onam. This day is marked by distribution of alms to the needy, mass prayers, gifting of new set of clothes to the family members by the eldest female member etc. However the main highlight of the day is the grand lunch they prepare. The lunch has over 15 curries served and can even go up to 30.

The festivities however do not end with Onam. Even after Onam a few more activities such as boat races are held and are great to watch. In this vacation, Plan a trip to Land of Onam and explore the beauty.