Onam is a Hindu holiday and festival held annually in Kerala, India. It is also a harvest festival, which falls on the 22nd nakshatra Thiruvonam in Chingam's Malayalam calendar month, which overlaps with August – September in Gregorian calendar. According to legends, the festival is celebrated to honor King Mahabali, whose spirit is said to visit Kerala at Onam's time.
The word Onam is derived from the Sanskrit word Shravanam which refers to one of the 27 constellations or Nakshatars. Throughout South India, Thiru is used for everything associated with Lord Vishnu, and it is believed that Thiruvonam is Lord Vishnu's Nakshatra who pushed the King Mahabali with his foot to the underworld.
Onam falls in the Chingam month, which according to the Malayalam Calendar is the first month. The celebrations mark the New Year of Malayalam, are spread over ten days, and end with Thiruvonam. Sequentially, the ten days are numbered Atham, Chithira, Chodhi, Vishakam, Anizham, Thriketa, Moolam, Pooradam, Uthradam, and Thiruvonam. The first and the last day in Kerala and in other communities of Malayalee are especially significant.
History:
In Hindu mythology, Mahabali was the great-grandfather of a Brahmin sage named Kashyapa, the great-grandfather of the evil tyrant, Hiranyakashipu, and Vishnu devotee grandson Prahlada. This ties the festival to Holika fame Prahlada's Puranic mythology in Hinduism, who was Hiranyakashipu's wife. Despite being born to an evil Asura father who despised Vishnu, Prahlada rebelled against the oppression of people by his parents, and worshiped Vishnu. Hiranyakashipu attempts to kill his son Prahlada, but in his Narasimha form, Vishnu is slain and Prahlada is rescued.
The grandson of Prahlada, Mahabali, came to power by slaying gods and taking the three worlds over. The defeated Devas asked Vishnu for aid in their war with Mahabali according to the Vaishnavism mythology. Vishnu declined to join the gods in violence against Mahabali, for Mahabali was a decent ruler and devotee of his own. Instead he wanted to check the dedication of Mahabali at a appropriate time. After his triumph over the gods, Mahabali announced he would do a Yajna and grant any request during the Yajna to everyone. Vishnu took, and approached Mahabali, the avatar – his fourth – of a dwarf boy named Vamana. The king offered the boy something-gold, cows, elephants, villages, food, whatever he wanted. The boy said one shouldn't be searching for more than one wants and all he wanted was "three pieces of land." Mahabali agreed.
Vamana grew to a massive scale, and Mahabali ruled all in just two paces. For the third rate, Mahabali offered his head for Vishnu to step on, an act that Vishnu embraced as evidence of Mahabali's devotion. Vishnu granted him a boon by which Mahabali could once again visit the lands and people he had previously ruled, once a year. This revisit marks Onam's festival as a reminder of Vishnu's virtuous law and modesty in accordance with his word. Mahabali's last day of stay is honored with a vegetarian nine-course feast at Onasadya.
The word Onam is derived from the Sanskrit word Shravanam which refers to one of the 27 constellations or Nakshatars. Throughout South India, Thiru is used for everything associated with Lord Vishnu, and it is believed that Thiruvonam is Lord Vishnu's Nakshatra who pushed the King Mahabali with his foot to the underworld.
Onam falls in the Chingam month, which according to the Malayalam Calendar is the first month. The celebrations mark the New Year of Malayalam, are spread over ten days, and end with Thiruvonam. Sequentially, the ten days are numbered Atham, Chithira, Chodhi, Vishakam, Anizham, Thriketa, Moolam, Pooradam, Uthradam, and Thiruvonam. The first and the last day in Kerala and in other communities of Malayalee are especially significant.
History:
In Hindu mythology, Mahabali was the great-grandfather of a Brahmin sage named Kashyapa, the great-grandfather of the evil tyrant, Hiranyakashipu, and Vishnu devotee grandson Prahlada. This ties the festival to Holika fame Prahlada's Puranic mythology in Hinduism, who was Hiranyakashipu's wife. Despite being born to an evil Asura father who despised Vishnu, Prahlada rebelled against the oppression of people by his parents, and worshiped Vishnu. Hiranyakashipu attempts to kill his son Prahlada, but in his Narasimha form, Vishnu is slain and Prahlada is rescued.
The grandson of Prahlada, Mahabali, came to power by slaying gods and taking the three worlds over. The defeated Devas asked Vishnu for aid in their war with Mahabali according to the Vaishnavism mythology. Vishnu declined to join the gods in violence against Mahabali, for Mahabali was a decent ruler and devotee of his own. Instead he wanted to check the dedication of Mahabali at a appropriate time. After his triumph over the gods, Mahabali announced he would do a Yajna and grant any request during the Yajna to everyone. Vishnu took, and approached Mahabali, the avatar – his fourth – of a dwarf boy named Vamana. The king offered the boy something-gold, cows, elephants, villages, food, whatever he wanted. The boy said one shouldn't be searching for more than one wants and all he wanted was "three pieces of land." Mahabali agreed.
Vamana grew to a massive scale, and Mahabali ruled all in just two paces. For the third rate, Mahabali offered his head for Vishnu to step on, an act that Vishnu embraced as evidence of Mahabali's devotion. Vishnu granted him a boon by which Mahabali could once again visit the lands and people he had previously ruled, once a year. This revisit marks Onam's festival as a reminder of Vishnu's virtuous law and modesty in accordance with his word. Mahabali's last day of stay is honored with a vegetarian nine-course feast at Onasadya.