Onam ओणम

Onam is the great festival of Kerala, rooted in the story of Mahabali, the generous asura king whose reign is remembered as an age of equality and plenty. The Bhagavata Purana tells how Vishnu came as the dwarf Vamana and asked Mahabali for three paces of land. The second pace covered the heavens and the earth, and Mahabali offered his own head for the third, so Vamana sent him to rule the nether world of Sutala. Because of his love for his subjects, he is allowed to visit them once a year, and Onam is the occasion of that visit.

Celebrations run for ten days, with Atham at the start and Thiruvonam as the peak, and the festival marks the harvest month of Chingam in the Malayalam calendar. A pookalam, a floral carpet, is laid in the courtyard and enlarged each day. The grand sadya is served on banana leaf with a long list of vegetarian dishes. Pulikali tiger dances in Thrissur, Vallam Kali snake-boat races at Aranmula and Alappuzha, and Kaikottikali, a women's clapping dance, belong to the season. Onam is a state festival in Kerala, and it is shared across communities, which is the spirit of the story.

Temples dedicated to Vamana, such as Thrikkakara near Kochi, hold special observances. Mahabali, in homes, is welcomed with clay pyramids known as Onathappan. Because the festival follows the Malayalam solar calendar and the Thiruvonam star, its Gregorian date shifts from year to year, and Malayali communities abroad plan their own celebrations over weeks.