The festival of harvest ‘Onam’ is celebrated every year in Kerala and by the Malayalee community across the world. According to the Gregorian calendar, the celebration is marked in the Chingam month on the 22nd Nakshatra Thiruvonam that comes in August and September. The celebrations start on Atham Day and go on for ten days till Thiruvonam day which is considered as the festival’s most auspicious day.

This year, the festivities of Onam started on 12 August and will end on 23 August. While the main celebrations will take place on 21 August.

Significance

People celebrate Onam to honor a kind-hearted, benevolent demon King Mahabali, who is believed to return his kingdom during Onam time.

According to Vaishnava mythology, King Mahabali had defeated all the Gods and was ruling in all three worlds. Unlike other demons, Mahabali was sweet and less torturous. People loved this demon king. Yet, the Gods felt insecured and asked Lord Vishu for interference.

Lord Vishnu disguised as Vamana, a Brahmin dwarf went to meet King Mahabali. Vamana is supposed to be Vishnu’s fifth avatar. When the king asked for his wishes, Vamana replied with “three pieces of land.” The king granted his wish, and he grew in size, appearing before all the three worlds. When he was about to reach heaven, King Mahabali offered his own head and Lord Vishu was impressed by this act of benevolence. He granted his wish that he could visit his kingdom during the time of Onam.

Hence, Onam is a celebration of the return of King Mahabali to his kingdom.

Celebrations

All the 10 days which are celebrated during Onam has their own significance and importance. Each day has its value and even after 10 days, some places still celebrate Onam.

Here’s a list of all the 10 days of the Onam festival:

Atham

To celebrate the arrival of King Mahabali, people decorate their houses with yellow flowers and have Pookalam (flower rangoli). A new layer is added after each passing day.

Chithira

The second day is usually deep cleaning of houses and making sure that everything is clean and neat. They also add another layer of flower in Pookalam. This day is highly auspicious for purchasing fresh vegetables, fruits and other provisions.

Chodi

On day 3, people buy gold, clothes, gifts to celebrate Onam. People gift new clothes, also called Onakodi to each other.

Vishakam

This fourth day marks the start of Onam Sadhya. Families start the preparation of Sadhya. The number of dishes differs from family to family but usually, families make 26 delicacies.

Anizham

Aranmula Uthrattathi Vallamkali also called snake boat begins on the fifth day. This is the oldest river boat festival in Kerala. This marks the beginning of the Vallamkali, snake boat race.

Thriketa

The office goers, school children, college students get off as Onam begins in a full swing. The Pookalam gets bigger after every passing day. This is the sixth day of Onam.

Moolam

This is the seventh day of the Onam festival. Families and relatives visit each other and temples start serving Sadhyas. People also start enjoying traditional art forms likes Kaikottikali and Puli Kali (leopard masquerade dance).

Pooradam

On the 8th day, statues of Mahabali and Vamana are taken around the house and are placed in the centre of Pookalam.

Uthradom

It is highly believed that King Mahabali reaches the state on the 9th day. Hence, the festivities and the merriment begins. This is the most auspicious day and so, people start buying fresh vegetables and start cooking traditional meals.

Thiruvonam

On the 10th day, people clean their houses, apply rice flour batter on the main entrance, dress up in traditional attire, saree and veshti (dhoti) and enjoy the Sadhya feast. People get together and play games, do activities together, celebrate and dance.

Sadhya – The Traditional Feast

Sadhya comprises more than 26 dishes. It includes Avial (vegetables in coconut curry), Kalan (sweet potato and yam with coconut curry), Chor (rice) and all-time favourite dessert Parripu Payasam (kheer). Sadhya also includes pickles, dry curries, pappadam (papad), poovan pazham (smaller bananas) and a lot more!

Customs

The grand secular festival of Kerala, Onam,  has numerous customs and traditions associated with it. The zest and enthusiasm imbibed in Onam is so huge it make the people of Kerala break all the barriers of caste and creed and unite. During the week-long festival, the state is decorated like a newlywed with lot of merriments going on. Families in Kerala have get together with the elder member of the family gifting new clothes to the younger members and kids. Onam is also the harvest festival of Kerala and as it is celebrated after monsoon, the land would be lush green with rivers and streams overflowing. This is exactly the reason why the captivating boat races become the striking feature of Onam. In the days following Onam, the state also witness Pulikali and Kummattikali. Read further to know to know more about the customs and traditions of Onam.

Onappookkalam or Floral Mat

Floral carpets or Onappookkalam is one of the beautiful customs of Onam. During the ten day festival of Onam, houses and thresholds are cleaned and Pookkalam of different flowers are made in front of every house. It requires lots and lots of flowers and leaves to complete this Onappookkalam and as per the customs, it must grow bigger in size as the day progresses and the tenth day should witness the biggest Pookkalam. The families and kids of the houses in Kerala take great pride in preparing these pookkalams. In early days, it was a way of making kids familiarize about flowers and nature.

Vallamkali or Boat Race

The most enchanting of the Onam celebration customs is the Boat race or Vallamkali. One of the most admired and engrossing events associated with Onam, it is held during the Onam festival. Though there is numerous boat races held all through the state, the most famous of them is ‘Aranmula Uthrattadi Vallamkali’ at Pathanamthitta’ and ‘Nehru Trophy Boat Race’ in Alappuzha. What makes this striking is that huge canoes are decorated with hundreds of boatmen racing it. The rhythmic music and songs tempts people to flock to the event.

Pulikkali

Pulikkali, a folk art, form one of the most entertaining customs the ten day festival of Onam witness. Pulikkali means, ‘play of tigers’. Celebrated in the central districts of Kerala like Thrissur and Palghat, pulikali include trained artists dress themselves as tigers by painting their body with yellow, red and black patterns. A captivating custom which is dated back to 200 years, in pulikali, artists dance to instruments like Udukku and Thakil.

Thumbi Thullal

Thumbi Thullal is a gracious folk art form performed by women during the ten day Onam festival in Kerala. Though slowly disappearing, this beautiful art is one which imbibes the true spirit of Onam. In this, performers wear attractive jewelry and clothes, form a ring with the lead performer sit in the middle and sing a fast paced song. The other performers join her by clapping the hands and swaying to the rhythm of the song.

Kaikottikali

An elegant dance form performed during the Onam festival, Kaikottikali witness Kerala women, irrespective of young and old wear the traditional attire and dance to songs praising the mighty King Mahabali who ruled Kerala during the ancient days. In some places in Kerala, women dance around Pookkalam or floral mat in the center of which there will be a bronze lit lamp (nilavilakku).

Athachamayam

Athachamayam is a grand procession which marks the beginning of the ten day of festival of Onam. This is a grand tradition which is held on the 1st day of Onam (Atham) in places like Thripunithura and Piravam. This event is held to commemorate the royal tradition in which the kings of the state of Cochin travelled from their Thripunithura Fort to the Thrikkakara temple with the royal entourage. Nowadays, the event has huge fanfare which is often accompanied by folk artistes, musical ensembles and dance shows by skilled artists even without the royal charm.