May the spirit of Onam remains everywhere
Whatever you do Whatever you think
Whatever you hope in your life
“Wish you a Happy Onam”
Kerala was once ruled by King Mahabali. A true ruler of the people who would
go
to great lengths to ensure the welfare of his people. In his kingdom all were
equal and there was no poverty .So much so that the gods themselves came to
envy his popularity with his subjects which rivaled their own. Legend has it
that the gods plotted against king Mahabali to end his reign. For this they
sent Lord Vishnu to earth in the form of a dwarf Brahmin (vamana avatar) to
subdue Mahabali.
At that time king Mahabali was conducting a yagna and was giving away material
possessions as charity. Vamana requested for a plot of land equal to three of
his footsteps. The king conceded but vamana suddenly grew in size and in one
step covered the earth and in the second the entire galaxy. There was no place
left for the third step so king Mahabali humbly offered his head to place the
third step on signifying his surrender to the lord.But before being trampled
down to the netherworld, Vishnu granted the king's sole wish and that was to
be
able to visit his land and people once every year.
For Keralites Onam is the celebration of the return of Mahabali, their beloved
king. To welcome king Mahabali to their home people decorate their front porch
with a “Pookalam” or A flower carpet.This is similar to a rangoli except that
this is made up of creatively arranged flower petals. Small mounds of earth
are
also placed in the courtyard representing Mahabali and Vishnu.A fair bit of
rituals are performed and this is followed by a sumptuous feast called
'Saddhi'
is served on plantain leaf and accompanied with ‘Payasam’ themain sweet dish.
Thanks & Regards,
Sudhir Srinivasan
B.Arch, Dip.ID, Dip.CAD, Dip.PM, AIIA, IIID, ARIAI
|Architect|
