Onam Festival of Kerala – An Introduction

Onam is the biggest and the most important festival of the state of Kerala. Since, this occasion represents the rich culture of the state, it was made the National Festival of Kerala in the year 1961.

The festival of Onam is celebrated in the beginning of the month of Chingam, the first month of Malayalam Calendar (Kollavarsham). This corresponds with the month of August-September according to the Gregorian Calendar. It is a harvest festival and according to a popular legend, the festival is celebrated to welcome King Mahabali, whose spirit is said to visit Kerala at the time of Onam.

The Onam carnival lasts for four to ten days. First day Atham and tenth day Thiruonam are the most important of all. Grand feasts, folk songs, elegant onam dances, energetic onam games, elephants, snake boat race and Onam gifts, all are a part of the dynamic festival called Onam.

Government of India has taken due notice of this vibrant and colourful festival. It promotes Onam internationally in a big way and celebrates 'Tourist Week' for Kerala during Onam celebrations. Thousands of domestic and foreign tourists visit Kerala to be a part of Onam.

Harvest Festivals of India

India is a land that thrives on its primary occupation, agriculture. It is also the backbone of the Indian economy and of the social structure of our country. An agriculturist is dependent on the seasonal changes and the natural reservoir of resources to get a bountiful harvest every season. Thus new beginnings, occasions to celebrate have always been marked around these seasonal climatic changes only.

If we talk with respect to the farming community, the time of harvest is for leisure for the farmers, a time to be spent celebrating a good season gone by or an excellent produce. There are various festivals in India that are marked around the harvest season. Some of these are,

The midwinter festival known as Lohri is celebrated in north India, in Assam it is called Bhogali Bihu, in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar it is known as Sankranti whereas in Andhra Pradesh it is celebrated as Bhogi, when each household puts on display its collection of dolls. Holi in Eastern India is a springtime harvest festival which has more of a religious flavour than in other parts of the country. In Kerala the harvest festival which comes in after the rainy season is called Onam. Pongal is a midwinter harvest festival celebrated by the people of Tamil Nadu.

Though all these festivals have cultural differences, but they do have something in common. All of them signify peace, prosperity and progress. They are also a time for communal celebrations and for family gatherings.