Onam 

( IPA: [oːɳɐm]) is an annual Indian harvest festival celebrated predominantly by the people of

Kerala.[4][5] A major annual event for Keralites, it is the official festival of the state[4][6] and includes a
spectrum of cultural events.[7][8][4][9]

Onam commemorates King Mahabali and Vamana.[10][11] According to Hindu legends, Onam is

celebrated in Kerala in remembrance of the good governance under the rule of daitya king Mahabali,
a mythical king who once ruled Kerala. The legend holds that jealous of Mahabali's popularity and
his power, the devas and gods conspired to end his reign. They sent Vamana to earth in the form of
a dwarf Brahmin who trampled Mahabali to patala (netherworld). Vamana asked Mahabali for three
feet of land as his wish from the generous Mahabali. Since denying gifts to Brahmin is considered a
sacrilege, Mahabali agreed to fulfill Vamana’s wish. In the first two feet Vamana measured the
entirety of universe, leaving nowhere to place his third foot. Mahabali offered his own head to place
his third feet making the wish complete. However, witnessing Mahabali’s generosity, Vishnu granted
the king's sole wish to visit his land and people once every year. This homecoming of Mahabali is
celebrated as Onam in Kerala every year[12][11]

The date of Onam celebration is based on the Panchangam, and falls on the

22nd nakshatra Thiruvonam in the month Chingam of Malayalam calendar, which in Gregorian
calendar falls between August–September.[13][4]

History[edit]

Vamana teaching King Mahabali ,1672 Dutch Painting

The festival probably has ancient origins and it became intricately linked with Hindu legends at some
later date.[14][page needed] Literary and epigraphical evidence suggests that Onam has a long religious
context and history in Kerala and neighboring parts of South India:[14]
  The earliest known reference to the word Onam as a celebration is found
in Maturaikkāñci – a Sangam era Tamil poem. It mentions a festival called Onam being
celebrated in dedication to Maayon (Vishnu) in Madurai, when games and duels were
held in temple premises, oblations were sent to the temples, people wore new clothes
and feasted.
 The 9th-century Pathikas and Pallads by Periyazharwar describes Onam celebrations
and offerings to Vishnu, mentions feasts and community events.
 An 11th-century inscription in the Thrikkakara Temple (Kochi) dedicated to Vamana – an
avatar of Vishnu – mentions a series of offerings made by a votary over two days prior
and on Thiru Onam.
 A 12th-century inscription in the Tiruvalla Temple, one of the largest Hindu temples in
Kerala dedicated to Vishnu, mentions Onam and states a donation was made to the
temple as the Onam festival offering.
 Uddanda Shastri, a southern Indian Sanskrit poet visiting the court of the Zamorin, has
written about a festival called śrāvaṇa.[15] It is presumed that this verse is about the
festival of Onam as the word Onam (or Thiruvonam) is the Tamil/Malayalam form of
the śrāvaṇa nakshatra mentioned in Indian astronomy:
चोकुयन्ते पृ थुकततयश्चापतादिन्य उच्चै ः सर्वानार्यःपतिभिरनिशम् लम्भयन्त्यर्थकामान्।

बभ्रम्यन्ते सकलपु रुषै र्वल्लभाभ्यः प्रदातु म् चित्रम् वस्त्रम् श्रावणकुतु कम् वर्तते केरळे षु ॥

Gangs of lads, playing their bows hoot loudly again and again; All women make their husbands
provide wealth and pleasure; All men are wandering hither and thither to present beautiful garments
to their women. The festivity of 'Sravana' takes place in Kerala.

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    A 16th-century European memoir describes Onam. It mentions among other things that Onam
is always celebrated in September, the Malayali people adorn their homes with flowers and daub
them over with cow's dung believing its auspicious association with goddess Lakshmi.
According to Kurup, Onam has been historically a Hindu temple-based community festival
celebrated over a period of many days.[14]

Significance[edit]
See also: Mahabali, Vishnu, and Vamana

Onam is an ancient [16][17] Hindu festival of Kerala that celebrates rice harvest.[10][18] The significance of

the festival is in Indian culture, of which two are more common.

Mahabali and Vamana[edit]

According to Hindu mythology, Mahabali was the great-great-grandson of a Brahmin sage
named Kashyapa, the great-grandson of a demonic dictator, Hiranyakashipu, and the grandson
of Vishnu devotee Prahlada. This links the festival to the Puranic story of Prahlada of Holika fame in
Hinduism, who was the son of Hiranyakashipu. Prahlada, despite being born to a
demonic Asura father who hated Vishnu, rebelled against his father's persecution of people and
worshipped Vishnu. Hiranyakashipu tries to kill his son Prahlada, but is slain by Vishnu in
his Narasimha avatar, Prahlada is saved.[19]

The dwarf Vamana taking a leap-step is a part of many Hindu temple arts (above), and one legend behind
Onam.

Prahlada's grandson, Mahabali, came to power by defeating the gods (Devas) and taking over the
three worlds. According to Vaishnavism, the defeated Devas approached Vishnu for help in their
battle with Mahabali.[10] Vishnu refused to join the gods in violence against Mahabali because
Mahabali was a good ruler and his own devotee. Mahabali, after his victory over the gods, declared
that he would perform a Yajna (homa sacrifices/rituals) and grant anyone any request during
the Yajna. Vishnu took the avatar – his fifth[20] – of a dwarf monk called Vamana and approached
Mahabali. The king offered anything to the boy – gold, cows, elephants, villages, food, whatever he
wished. The boy said that one must not seek more than one needs, and all he needed was "three
paces of land." Mahabali agreed.[10][21]

Vamana grew to an enormous size and covered everything Mahabali ruled over in just two paces.
For the third pace, Mahabali offered his head for Vishnu to step on, an act that Vishnu accepted as
evidence of Mahabali's devotion.[10] Vishnu granted him a boon, by which Mahabali could visit again,
once every year, the lands and people he previously ruled. This revisit marks the festival of Onam,
as a reminder of the virtuous rule and his humility in keeping his promise before Vishnu. The last day
of Mahabali's stay is remembered with a nine-course vegetarian Onasadya feast.[10][22]

The name Thrikkakara is originated from 'Thiru-kaal-kara' meaning 'place of the holy foot'. The main
deity at Thrikkakara Temple is Vamana, the smaller temple to the side has Shiva as the deity.
Vamana temple is known as 'Vadakkum Devar' and the Shiva temple is known as 'Tekkum Devar'. A
number of subsidiary deities have been installed at Thrikkakara Temple.[23] The 1961 census report
on Onam festival states :[23]
Though the Vamana temple is accepted as the main temple at the elite level, the local people
consider the Shiva temple as the more important one. They believe that Shiva was the 'Kuladeivam'
(family deity) of Mahabali and that there was no Vamana temple at that time. The palace of Mahabali
was situated at the place where the Vamana temple is at present. After the fall of Mahabali, his
palace was destroyed and later on Vamana was installed on that spot by the saint Kapila.

According to Nanditha Krishna, a simpler form of this legend, one without Mahabali, is found in
the Rigveda and the Vedic text Shatapatha Brahmana where a solar deity is described with powers
of Vishnu. This story likely grew over time, and is in part allegorical, where Bali is a metaphor for
thanksgiving offering after a bounty of rice harvest during monsoon, and Vishnu is the metaphor of
the Kerala sun and summer that precedes the Onam.[24] According to Roshen Dalal, the story of
Mahabali is important to Onam in Kerala, but similar Mahabali legends are significant in the region of
Balia and Bawan in Uttar Pradesh, Bharuch in Gujarat, and Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra. The
story is significant not because Mahabali's rule ended, but it emphasizes the Hindu belief in cyclical
nature of events, that no individual, no ruler and nothing lasts forever, except the virtues and self-
understanding that overcomes all sorrow.[25]

Parashurama[edit]

Maveli is worshipped as Onathappan during Onam festival

An alternate tale behind Onam relates to Parashurama, an incarnation of Vishnu who is credited in

Hinduism to have created the Western Ghats from the southern tip of Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and up
to Maharashtra.[26] According to this legend, Vishnu got upset with the kings and the warrior caste
who were constantly at war and were arrogant over others.[26]

Vishnu took the avatar of Parashurama, or "Rama with an axe" and also known as Rama
Jamadagyna, in the era of King Kaartavirya. This king persecuted and oppressed the people, the
sages and the gods.[26] One day, the king came to the hermitage of Parashurama and his mother
Renuka, where while Parashurama was away, the king without permission took away the calf of their
cow. When Parashurama returned, he felt the injustice of the king, called him to war, and killed the
king and all his oppressive warriors. At the end, he threw the axe, and wherever it fell, the sea
retreated, creating the land of Kerala and other coastal western parts of the Indian subcontinent.
[26]
 Another version states that Parashurama brought Namboodiri Brahmins to southwestern parts of
India, by creating a mini-Himalaya-like mountain range with his axe. The Onam festival, according to
this legend, celebrates Parashurama's creation of Kerala by marking those days as the new year.[27]

The legend and worship of Parashurama is attested in texts and epigraphs