Mahabali Returns

Hola and Hello my beloved readers. It's been a while since I've posted anything. Well, exams were being conducted and I didn't just get the time. It didn't matter because I only have 2 readers at the moment. 

Anyway, let's talk about Onam. 

Onam is a festival celebrated in Kerala. Kerala is a small state on the south end of India. Keralites/Malayalees celebrate onam every year. Onam has been celebrated by the Keralites since years, decades or centuries. All the Keralites celebrate onam equally. The hindus, muslims, christians and everyone celebrates it. The Keralites give much importance to this. 

Actually, there's a tale behind this. So long ago, there was king called Mahabali who ruled Kerala. He was a benevolent ruler. He was a devotee of Lord Vishnu (God in Hinduism). His people loved him.  Everything was harmonious. Mahabali was a demon king. Mahabali's growth scared the gods. The gods went to Lord Vishnu and asked him to find a solution.

Lord Vishnu took the form of a poor Brahmin boy. This avatar of his is known as Vamana. When Mahabali saw the boy, he agreed to fulfill one of his wishes no matter what it was. The boy asked for 3 foot of land and Mahabali agreed as he promised. Suddenly, the boy grew bigger and bigger. That is when Mahabali knew that it was Lord Vishnu all along. Vamana was able to cover the whole world with his first 2 steps. Mahabali had to do what he promised. So, he bowed down and asked Vamana to step on his head for the third foot of land. Vamana pushed Mahabali to the pathala (it's another world). Lord Vishnu gave consent to Mahabali to visit his kingdom once in every year in a time. And Onam is that time when Mahabali Returns. This legend has been passed on by Keralites for centuries. I myself learned the story from my mother and I love to hear the same story from her every onam. This legend has another types of myths and believes in cooporated into it. The story completely changes then. But there, the highlight of onam, Maveli would be missing. As I believe, there isn't an Onam without Maveli/ Mahabali.

Onam is celebrated for almost ten days. But there are certain customs even after the ten days.  The tenth day of Onam is the prominent one. It is called thiruvonam. Tomorrow, 29/08/2023 is thiruvonam. Keralites around the world are going to celebrated it with immense pleasure. Nowadays, there are small celebrations in schools, offices and things. So, almost all of the 10 days are celebrated.  

Onam is celebrated through puli-kali, boat races, Athachamayam, Kummati kali, Thumbi thullal and last but not the least and the most important is the Onam Sadhya. There is a lot of things to say about each one of them. So, I'm just not getting started with all of it. 

All this ten days, we make designs with flowers in the middle of the yard. I just love that custom. It's so beutiful and it is so powerful to lit up a smile on one's face. This year, we had huge design on our school. All though, only one was allowed it was big and beautiful. Last year, we had one design inside our class room. There are also competitions conducted in connection with this. My school used to conduct such competitions but it just stopped. Each design got scores based on the beauty, type of flowers used, etc. The most prominent anong such flowers is the Thumba. That flower alone used to gain scores for the participants. 

Onam sadhya is another factor to discuss. Rice along with 20 or 30 types of side dishes, that is Onam Sadhya. There are people who knows onam only because of that. I used to live in another country until 2020. There I knew Onam only through the Onam Sadhya(when I was really younger). Over time, I was aware about the customs and traditions. 

There are also competitions conducted in connection with the Onam  celebrations. Tug of war, lemon and spoons, musical chair are only just the few of them.

I almost forgot ro mention how beautiful each of us look at that day. Women wear Saree. Men wear Mundu. Little Girls wear Pattupavada. Everyone looks best in that day.

Onam is not just about the celebrations and welcoming Mahabali. There are some other things which makes Onam inevitable for the Keralites. The God's own country was a country with farmers and farms. Onam is also the harvest time. Farmers and their families would just wait for that time. It is in this part of the year that we get new clothes, enjoy different tastes and also it was during this time that people had money with them. It is a time of happiness. It was a time of happiness and it will be a time of happiness. Onam will continue to be celebrated by the Keralites. Onam will be celebrated in all parts of the world because, is there actually a place without a person from the God's own country? 

I have talked about Onam in the best of my knowledge and this is only little.

Happy Onam to my beloved readers❤!

Anastasia

Glittering Black

Also blogging at spotforyoubyme.wordpress.com