Sunday, August 26, 2007

Onam

There is only one festival in Kerala which is celebrated with great ceremony and gaiety....ONAM...

Onam is the one of the most beautiful and meaningful festival in the World. It is traditionally a harvest festival but there is a legend attached to it.



Legend has it that there was once a king called Mahabali. He was extremely powerful, a conquerer yet a kind and good king and a man of principles. He was performing the sacrificial rite of Viswajith at the banks of Narmada River, and declared that he would give anything that anyone sought from him during this Yagna. At this the gods were very annoyed. Bali was the ruler of all the three worlds having defeated the devas.
The gods approached Vishnu and asked for his help to dethrone Mahabali. Vishnu, incarnated in the form of Vamana, a dwarf to defeat the Daityas. As he was approaching them, the sages assembled there perceived the extraordinary effulgence form of the young lad. On being received as befitted a brahmin, Vamana smiled and said: "You need not give me anything great. It is enough if you give me that extend of land covered by three footsteps of mine".
Bali's preceptor, Shukracharya a Daitya priest, who could have vision of the future told Bali that the one, who had come to seek a gift from Bali was not an ordinary Brahmin but Lord Narayana Himself who had assumed this form. He advised Bali not to promise the lad anything. But Bali was a king who would never go back on his word and told his Guru that he would never break his promise. Bali told his Guru: "Prana (life) and Maana (honour) are the two eyes of a person. Even if life goes, honour should be protected. Granting that the person that has come now is the Lord Himself, I should be the most fortunate one as the Lord, who gives everything to mankind, is seeking something from me."
Vamana grew in size until he towered above the heavens. With one foot, he measured all of the earth. With the other, he claimed all of heaven. There was still one foot of territory that Bali owed him. Bali offered his head to be measured as the third step of land which Lord Vamana had asked for as alms, thus sending him to pathala.
As a last wish Mahabali was granted the permission to visit his subjects once a year. Thus, Keralites celebrate Onam festival to commemorate the memory of a Great King Mahabali who would keep his promise. Mahabali fulfilled his name as the great martyr for the sake of Truth. The name "Mahabali" itself means Great Sacrifice. Thus Onam celebrates a series of martyrdom of the devoted Daityas.



Prayer, festivities, sadhya and Vallamkali are typically symbolic of Onam.
Sadhya is the feast that comprises of a variety of dishes


and Vallamkali are the famous snake boat races which have now become a regular event.



For me the best part of onam is the Onasadhya...my mother makes scrumptious food which i consume in copious amounts...(yummy!!)
and of course the new clothes...but thats the story living away from Kerala..
The festivities in kerala are spectacle to behold!



My Onam Wishes
Maveli, in God's own country,
Descends annually to ensure bounty;

Amma, elegant in a mundu so white,
Bordered with a golden light;

Achchan also helps in the kitchen today,
Eleven yummy things-sadhya at midday;

Fresh flowers and clothes new and bright,
A pretty pookolam-a welcome delight;

Celebrating Bali's true and generous way,
Wishing you a Happy Onam today.

--------------------------------------------
PS: Do check out the links for further and better information on Onam..

19 comments:

Rahul said...

Happy Onam Sneha!
Here in NJ, convenience trumps tradition, or so it seems; and we are doing the pookkalam and sadhya sometime next month! But perhaps, it is the spirit that counts, and that we have ina bounty :-)

annie said...

Happy Onam dear!! I din't know the story and celelbrations that go behind Onam..so great work for this post. Btw where are my sweets?

unknown said...

OMG...U a keralite?? great...I just love The God's Own Country!! My mom's native is somewhere nearer trivandrum..and I just love that place...
One thing I miss is sadya.. I want it badly...never tasted it b4...And Happy Onam!!!the story was a familiar one to me..:) How did u end up in Mumbai??

Jeya Anand said...

oops.sorry..that was me...intermingled with my sisiter's account...:)

Unknown said...

Happy Onam!!!!

Sneha P said...

@rahul: thanks and same to u.....u got that rite ..it IS the spirit that counts....
and the food is always good nomatter when u have it!![;)]

@annie: hey...thanks annie....
yeah...culture...mythology...food...sometimes we must indulge in these things...we tend to forget in todays day and age...

@cutie:thanks and wish u the same...yea the vamana story most ppl kno...only they are not aware of the relation it has to onam and actually even raksha bandhan...
oh u must not miss the food!!
mumbai...i've lived in this city all my life..its my home!

@Jeya: i'm sorry...i didnt really get what u apologized for???

@akanksha: thanks a ton babe...i'll try not to disappear for too long....lol...cheers!

Anonymous said...

Happy Onam dear.

Parcel the sweets to NY....i wud reimburse the costs..........:-)

Great snaps and story behind it!!!

Do visit my blog

Cheers

ashu

di.di said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
di.di said...

Onam greetings to you of all. reading your blog makes me feel like I should go to there...

Nisha said...

hey..that was a very informative post...makes me feel if i could enjoy the festivities :)
wish u a very happy onam!

Jeya Anand said...

hey that cutie was my sister's account...and I commented on urs thinking that I had logged in mine..only to realize later that I am not..:D:D
U got it Now?

Anonymous said...

generic viagra online buying viagra online in britain viagra cheap buy viagra australia viagra uk cheap purchase buy india viagra cialis vicodin buy viagra in england viagra logo viagra and cannabis viagra substitute viagra in the water cheapest viagra prices viagra online cheap viagra and hearing loss

Anonymous said...

Who knows where to download XRumer 5.0 Palladium?
Help, please. All recommend this program to effectively advertise on the Internet, this is the best program!

Anonymous said...

Cheap duricef Low price tadacip ED prograf Order wellbutrin Online voltaren Discount tegretol

Anonymous said...

The author of lifeisaboveitall.blogspot.com has written an excellent article. You have made your point and there is not much to argue about. It is like the following universal truth that you can not argue with: No matter how good a website is, its' webmaster is guaranteed to get at least one e-mail which says "UR PAGE SUCKS". Thanks for the info.

Anonymous said...

john cusack dating [url=http://loveepicentre.com/]malaysia plenty of fish dating site[/url] latinsinglesconnection http://loveepicentre.com/ christian online dating

Anonymous said...

lifeisaboveitall.blogspot.com is the best. Thank your for this article. I enjoyed it very much.
AAA Toronto Payday Loans 1172 Bay St #101, Toronto, ON M5S 2B4 (416) 477-2817

Anonymous said...

lucky strike lottery http://lwv.in/baccarat/baccarat-system-technique public betting percentages
[url=http://lwv.in/keno/video-keno-30-days-free-trial]winstar casino jackpot[/url] n j lottery mega millions recent winning numbers [url=http://lwv.in/slot/iso-tee-slot-tolerances]iso tee slot tolerances[/url]
miami florida casino boat http://lwv.in/slots/pci-vesa-local-bus-pc-slots
[url=http://lwv.in/baccarat/baccarat-forums]b 17 blackjack[/url] how to play blackjack gambling information [url=http://lwv.in/jackpot/operation-jackpot-florida]operation jackpot florida[/url]
sample lottery program code http://lwv.in/slots/hp-xw6400-legacy-pci-slots-specs canada and gambling age [url=http://lwv.in/keno/to-win-keno-free-online-casinos]to win keno free online casinos[/url]

Anonymous said...

johnny got his gun movie [url=http://moviestrawberry.com/films/film_ferdinand_the_bull/]ferdinand the bull[/url] movie theater san antonio http://moviestrawberry.com/films/film_street_trash/ the piano movie
how holes book is different from movie [url=http://moviestrawberry.com/films/film_the_crow_stairway_to_heaven/]the crow stairway to heaven[/url] peeing movie http://moviestrawberry.com/films/film_gone_in_sixty_seconds/ entrapment the movie
the movie little black book [url=http://moviestrawberry.com/films/film_no_man_s_land_the_rise_of_reeker/]no man s land the rise of reeker[/url] transformers the movie 2007
diablo movie [url=http://moviestrawberry.com/films/film_the_new_twenty/]the new twenty[/url] the movie the wailer 2 http://moviestrawberry.com/films/film_dangerous_parking/ free animal sex movie
dan movie [url=http://moviestrawberry.com/films/film_the_adventures_of_sharkboy_and_lavagirl_3_d/]the adventures of sharkboy and lavagirl 3 d[/url] permission to charge admission for video movie http://moviestrawberry.com/films/film_chocolat/ japanese bondage movie