Kerala welcomes Thiruvonam with colour, feast and tradition

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 5 (PTI) Dressed in traditional clothes, cooking generous feasts and filling courtyards with bright flower carpets, people across Kerala marked Onam, the state's harvest festival, on Friday with colour and cheer.

The culmination of the 10-day festival, known as Thiruvonam, saw crowds heading to temples in the morning, from small villages to busy towns.

Children and young people decorated homes with pookkalam -- intricate floral patterns made from petals in every shade imaginable.

In many villages and housing colonies, tall swings, or oonjal, were put up in courtyards, bringing back the playful spirit of old celebrations.

Families came together as elders handed out onakkodi -- new clothes gifted during Onam -- while women prepared the grand sadya, a vegetarian feast served on banana leaves with an array of pickles, curries and the much-loved dessert, payasam.

Community groups and local clubs staged traditional games such as tug of war (vadamvali) and uriyadi, where players try to smash a clay pot, alongside performances of classic art forms like pulikali (tiger dance), thiruvathira and theyyam, keeping alive the festival's cultural richness.

According to legend, Onam is rooted in the return of King Mahabali, the mythical ruler remembered for a golden age when people lived in fairness and harmony.

As the story goes, Mahabali's growing popularity unsettled the Devas, who turned to Lord Vishnu for help. Vishnu, in his dwarf form, sent the king to the netherworld.

Yet before leaving, Mahabali won a promise-- he would be allowed to visit his people once a year, on Thiruvonam, the day that Keralites still celebrate in his honour.

Onam is also one of Kerala's busiest shopping seasons.

In the run-up to the festival, markets stayed crowded late into the night as people rushed to pick up their favourites for the celebrations.

By Thursday evening, malls and high streets were packed with last-minute buyers, while long queues formed outside fair-price outlets run by the State Civil Supplies Corporation, Horticorp and Consumerfed. PTI TGB TGB ADB