Onam Festival — is a colorful harvest festival celebrated in the state of Kerala. According to legend, the mythical king of ancient Kerala — Mahabali, or Maveli, comes to its lands on the day of Thiruvonam, and his subjects celebrate the Golden Era, which lasted in those days.
His kingdom prospered, and the king achieved unprecedented power. The gods were afraid of his growing popularity and began to ask for help from Lord Vishnu, whom Mahabali worshiped. Vishnu appeared to him in his fifteenth avatar of a poor Brahmin, the dwarf Vamana, when the king, after his morning prayer, gave alms to the Brahmins.
The disguised Vishnu asked for a piece of land that he would cover with three steps, and the king promised to fulfill this request. Suddenly, Vamana grew to an undeniable size. With one step he covered the entire earth, with the second — the entire sky, and thus covered the entire universe. Then he wondered where he could get space to take the third step. The king realized that the dwarf was not an ordinary Brahmin, and asked him to put the third step on his head. Vishnu complied with the king's request and granted him mercy.
With his foot placed on Mahabali's head, Vishnu pushed him into the underworld — patala. This blessing freed the king from the cycle of births and deaths, and therefore on Onam it is customary to replace worn clothes with new ones. People make the decision to live a new life, to be honest, pious, loving and humble.
King Mahabali, deeply devoted to his people, promised that he would visit Kerala every year. And since then he returns home every year on Onam. Patterned flower carpets called Pookalam are laid out in front of the houses. The tradition of laying flowers at the doorsteps of houses is very popular in Kerala, and these beautiful short-lived works of art are supported throughout the ten-day celebration by daily adding many fresh flowers of various colors, laying out which girls sing folk songs.
The rich folklore of the people of Kerala was fully reflected in Onam festival. Here you can see the national costume, try folk cuisine, watch traditional games and dances, see an elephant parade and boat races and, of course, hear folk songs.
Photo in the article: Rajeev Nair, www.flickr.com, licensed under CC BY 2.0