Onam

is a harvesting festival, celebrated by Malayalis , also known as Keralaties(People of Kerala). Irrespective of religion, cast and creed, it’s observed by all the people of the Indian state Kerala. As per Epics (Purana), Keralites, during Onam commemorate the visit of the King Mahabali , who ruled Kerala in the ancient times. It’s believed that the king was very generous and there was no discrimination during his reign.

Onam falls on ‘Chingam’, the first month of the Malayalam calendar. The actual celebration begins on the day ‘Atham’ and last for another ten days. The biggest festival is on the day ‘Thiruvonam’ , when the people is at the peak of joy and enthusiasm. On this day, the front of the houses will be decorated with flower carpet, known as ‘Pookkalam’, to welcome King Mahabali. A special buffet lunch, known as ‘Onasadya’ will be prepared and served in each homes. People also indulge in various traditional games like Thiruvathirakali , Pulikkali , Vallam kali (boat race) etc.

In this blog post, I included some of the photos which I took during the Onam celebrations in last 5 years. The first photo is of the raw banana chips (Kayupperi or Kaya varuthathu in malayalam), is a famous snack served in Onasadya.  It’s supposed to have so many dishes (mostly ten or more), for the special lunch. But you can’t see it in the snap shared.  Commonly a huge ancestral house would go for a lunch with lots of curries, as there would be a lot of people to help each other in preparation and cooking. Pookkalam is another peculiarity about Onam, which I used to draw up with utmost delight.

At present, Onam celebrations are very minimal for me, whereas I found it well during the childhood days. Especially when I was in college, we used to prepare very huge Pookkalam. As there were a lot of talented people included in this activity, the result was magnificent. The more the head count are there, the more the festival is blissful.