Onam
Onam
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| Onam, Thiruvonam[1] | |
|---|---|
 Flower Rangoli (pookalam) is an Onam tradition | |
| Observed by | Malayalis |
| Type | Hindu Religious festival,Harvest festival[2][3] |
| Observances | Sadya, Thiruvathira Kali, Puli Kali, Pookalam, Ona-thallu, Thrikkakarayappan, Onathappan, Tug of War, Thumbi Thullal, Onavillu, Kazhchakkula, Athachamayam, and Vallamkali. |
| Begins | Chingam (siṃha) masam, Atham (hastā) nakshatram |
| Ends | Chingam (siṃha) masam, Thiruvonam (śrāvaṇa) nakshatram |
| Date | multi-day |
| 2022 date | Tuesday, 30 August 2022 to Thursday, 8 September 2022 |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Related to | Balipratipada |
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 Vamana and King Mahabali.[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.
History
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:
- 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:
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According to Kurup, Onam has been historically a Hindu temple-based community festival celebrated over a period of many days.
Significance
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
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]
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.
Parashuram
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.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.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.
The legend and worship of Parashurama is attested in texts and epigraphs dated to about the 2nd century CE.
Cultural festival
Onam is a "popular major Hindu festival in Kerala", states Christine Frost, but one that is also celebrated by other communities with "much zest alongside Hindus".[The festival is celebrated in BECs (Basic Ecclesial communities) in Trivandrum with local rituals, according to Latin Catholic Bishop Selvister Ponnumuthan.These traditions, according to Selvister Ponnumuthan, start with the lighting of Nilavilakku, an arati that includes waving of flowers (pushparati) over the Bible, eating the Onam meal together with the Hindus as a form of "communion of brothers and sisters of different faiths".The significance of these practices are viewed by BECs in Trivandrum as a form of integration with Hindus, mutual respect and sharing a tradition.
Paulinus of St. Bartholomew (1748-1806), in his 'A voyage to the East Indies' describes Onam as :
According to P.S. Salini, a research scholar in Islamic studies, most Muslims join the festivities with their friends and celebrate "Hindu festivals such as Onam". According to a 2001 chapter by Filippo Osella and Caroline Osella, both Hindus and non-Hindus have celebrated Onam equally "as a time when the unity of the family and kin group is particularly emphasized".In another 2008 paper, Osella and Osella state that "Onam is not celebrated by Muslims" and the Muslims who do prepare an Onam feast have an air of a "daring secret".
Muslim reformists have called on other Muslims to refrain from taking part in the festival. For example, a Kerala-based Salafi preacher has called Onam as haram (wrong and forbidden). In 2019, another Muslim religious speaker caused controversy over his statement that Muslims should not celebrate the festivals of other religions like Onam. Some Muslim Indian politicians light traditional vilakku (oil lamps), while others have refused to light these lamps at Onam events declaring it to be a Hindu tradition and against the teachings of Islam. Muslim daily newspapers and other publications have condemned Muslim ministers who participate in Onam traditions.However some Muslims observe Onam anyway, considering its celebrations and rituals as a cultural practice.
According to Ritty A. Lukose, Onam is a Hindu festival, one that is culturally inclusive within the "secular lexicon" of Hinduism.In recent years, however, it has undertaken a political tone. In one case, students group affiliated with Hindu nationalism in Kerala objected when a Muslim played the role of Mahabali.They protested against the local organizer when alternate Hindus are available to play that role.According to Lukose, this incident shows how "the cultural figure of King Mahabali, understood as Hindu, tolerant and inclusive" into an "exclusively Hindu one".
External links
- Media related to Onam at Wikimedia Commons
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onam
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