{"id":504,"date":"2020-08-30T18:53:48","date_gmt":"2020-08-30T18:53:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/futuremug.co.in\/blog\/?p=504"},"modified":"2020-08-30T20:13:37","modified_gmt":"2020-08-30T20:13:37","slug":"onam-the-festival-of-rejoice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/futuremug.com\/blog\/onam-the-festival-of-rejoice\/","title":{"rendered":"Onam \u2013 The Festival of Rejoice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>\n<strong>Onam \u2013 The Festival of\nRejoice<\/strong>     \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\nOnam\nis a harvest festival that is typically celebrated in the Indian\nstate of Kerala, and by the Malayali community around the world.\nAccording to the Malayalam calendar, the festival is celebrated on\nthe 22nd <em>star, <\/em><em>Thiruvonam<\/em><em>,<\/em>\nin the month of \u2018<em>Chingam\u2019<\/em>\nwhich, as per the Gregorian calendar overlaps with months of August\nand September. This year, the festival is celebrated on 31 August. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\nOnam\nis the official state festival of Kerala since 1960. It is celebrated\nwith joy and enthusiasm all over the state by Malayalees regardless\nof religion, caste or creed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\nLegend\ngoes that once upon a time, the Dravidian king Mahabali (Maveli)\nruled Kerala, his reign marked by joy, equality and prosperity in the\nsociety. The gods in heavens, turned jealous, and Vamana, the fifth\navatar of Vishnu, turned up at his door disguised as a brahmin,\nrequesting three foot-steps worth of land. When the king conceded,\nVamana grew in size, occupying heaven and earth in two steps. With no\nspace left, Mahabali bowed, offering his head to place the third\nstep. Vamana stamped him down to the netherworld, just before\nMahabali extracted a promise that he be allowed to return once a year\nto visit his subjects. Onam, a 10-day harvest festival, celebrates\nthe symbolic return of their ruler. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\nOnam\ncelebrations are synonymous with the \u2018<em>Vallam<\/em><em>\n<\/em><em>Kali<\/em>\u2019\n(the boat races), \u2018<em>Pulikali<\/em>\u2019\n(the tiger dances), \u2018<em>Pookkalam\u2019<\/em>\n(Floor drawing art in flowers), \u2018<em>Onathappa\u2019<\/em>\u2018\n(the worship), \u2018<em>Onakkali<\/em>\u2019,\n\u2018<em>Thumbi<\/em><em>\n<\/em><em>Thullal<\/em>\u2019\n(women\u2019s dances), \u2018<em>Kummattikali<\/em>\u2019\n(mask dances), \u2018<em>Onathallu<\/em><em>\u2019<\/em>\n(martial arts), \u2018<em>Onavillu<\/em><em>\u2019<\/em>\n(music), \u2018<em>Kazhchakkula<\/em><em>\u2019<\/em>\n(plantain offerings),  and \u2018<em>Atthachamayam<\/em><em>\u2019<\/em>\n(folk songs and dances), among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\nThe\nfirst Onam also known as \u2018Uthraadam\u2019, is the Onam eve. Many\nbelieve this to be the day when King Mahabali returns to the state of\nKerala. On the second day, also referred to as Thiruvonam, it is\nbelieved that he pays a visit to people\u2019s houses. In the consequent\ndays, post-Onam celebrations continue, with the above mentioned\ncultural programmes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\nFor\nthe Malayali community, the main attraction is undoubtedly the\ntraditional Onam sadhya, which is a feast enjoyed by non-Malayalees,\ntoo. It is prepared with a few specific ingredients namely some\nseasonal vegetables, Mango and Lime pickle, Banana chips, Tamarind\nand Ginger chutney, Rice, <em>Pachadi<\/em>\n(a blend of coconut, curd, pineapple and chillies), <em>moru<\/em>\n(buttermilk), <em>Avial<\/em>\n(a dish with potatoes, banana, carrots, beans, drumstick and raw\nmango), <em>Rasam<\/em>\n(a tangy watery dish) and <em>Pappadam<\/em>.\nIt is served on a banana leaf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\nThis year, the Onam festival\nis celebrated without much festivities owing to the restrictions\nimposed due to Covid-19.  Apart from calling off the usual week-long\nOnam celebrations of the government,  strict restrictions are imposed\non Onam celebrations by groups too.  Cancellation of Onam\ncelebrations across the state has also badly hit the livelihood of\nmany traditional art performers also. <br><br><br><br>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Onam \u2013 The Festival of Rejoice Onam is a harvest festival that is typically celebrated in the Indian state of Kerala, and by the Malayali community around the world. According to the Malayalam calendar, the festival is celebrated on the 22nd star, Thiruvonam, in the month of \u2018Chingam\u2019 which, as per the Gregorian calendar overlaps [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":505,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[30],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/futuremug.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/futuremug.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/futuremug.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futuremug.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futuremug.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=504"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/futuremug.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":506,"href":"https:\/\/futuremug.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504\/revisions\/506"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futuremug.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/futuremug.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futuremug.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futuremug.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}