ONAM 2022: Onam is an annual harvest festival celebrated in the Indian state of Kerala with much fervour. It holds a lot of significance for the people of Kerala and it is also the official festival of the state. The first day of the ten-day-long celebrations is called Atham, and this year, the date for the same falls on August 30. Atham is considered auspicious due to many reasons and it kick-starts the grand gala that spans over ten days.
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According to the Malayalam calendar, Atham is observed in the month of Chingam, which corresponds to August/September. The first day marks the preparations for King Mahabali’s arrival in Kerala. It is said that King Mahabali, also known as Maveli, once ruled the state.
Mythological stories say that Mahabali granted “three pieces of land” to Lord Vishnu’s avatar Vamana at his request. Thereafter, Vamana grew in size and in his first and second steps respectively, he covered the sky and took the netherworld. When he was about to take his third step, Mahabali offered his head. Lord Vishnu, pleased by his sacrificing offer, granted him the boon that he could visit his kingdom every year during the festival of Onam.
The Thrikkakara temple of Kochi is considered to be Mahabali’s abode and people make customary visits to the temple on this day since it is the central point of worship in Onam where the festival flag is raised and parades are held. The colourful displays of Kerala’s rich culture consist of decorated tableaus and make for a visual sight to behold.
A grand procession called Atthachamayam begins from Thrippunithura near Kochi, the place from where the benevolent demon king is supposed to have been banished from Earth.
To commemorate the attachment of the Daitya king to his devotes, people decorate their homes with a special flower rangoli called Pookalam. The beauty of this flower arrangement is that as the festival proceeds in days, the rangoli is made bigger than before by adding flowers to it. It is quite small in size on the first day and consists of yellow flowers. It is called athapoo initially.
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