Festivals in India- Onam

Onam is one of the major festivals in Kerala in India. This is the time for festivities, sports and ritual celebrations.

This festival is celebrated in the memory of King Mahabali. It is believed that the spirit of this king visits the state during this festival period.

Kerala organizes aquatic festivals on the river Pampa as an integral part of the celebration. This festival comes after three months rains

The streams and brooks spout white foam gently and the rivers and lakes overflow, while the lilies and lotuses welcome the king’s spirit.

This is the ideal time to celebrate as it is the apposite time to reap and rejoice the harvest. This festival called Onam is held based on the stars and the moon positioning. Onam falls at August end or September beginning.

This is one of the significant festivals of Kerala, the southern Indian state. These celebrations initiate within the fortnight of the Malayalam New Year and are celebrated for ten days.

Thiruonam is the last day and is considered to be important. The entire state and the rituals in association with traditional cuisine, new clothes, music and dance mark the harvest festival.

The aththa-poo is the highlight of this traditional festival and the floral decoration is done in front of every house considering it to be auspicious. This floral decoration is often multi-tiered and is in round shape. They decorate it with petals and flowers.

Onam is the festival that is purely for fun besides rituals linked to the snake boat race. As per the tradition, a nambudri Brahmin is the main rudder oar and there are other oarsmen to control the boat movement.

Earlier, sitting in the boat was done based on their castes, but now the patterns have brought great transformations such that carpenter, goldsmith, barber, agricultural laborers and blacksmith have place in the boat.

Vibrant processions caparisoned with elephants are taken out and people enjoy watching the kathakali performers enacting the folktales and epics scenes.

Pulikali is as well a common sight in the Onam season. Udukku and thakil are two instruments that are used for dancing and the performers are painted in bright colors.

The snake boat races are the real charm and people gather to witness the exciting race as more than 30 snake boats take participation. They sing traditional songs and the oarsmen in white turbans and dhotis splashing water guiding their boats present a beautiful picture.

The makes a spectacular show and each snake boat is viewed as a deity. These boats are oiled with fish oil, carbon and coconut shell mixed with eggs so that the boat is slippery in water and the wood is strong.

The village carpenter takes charge about the annual repairs and takes pride in representing their village. Similarly, swinging is an indispensable part of this festival, especially the men and women in the rural area get well-decked and rock on swing from high branches singing onam songs.