From the last Onam celebration in my school [2019] Maveli being escorted to the pavilion |
Five Onams ago, Amit Shah made
a terrible mistake by wishing the people of Kerala on the occasion of Onam
referring to the festival as Vamana Jayanti. Vamana Jayanti is the victory of
Vamana. The victory of Vamana was the rout of Kerala’s most loved king, Maveli,
whom Onam celebrates. Amit Shah’s greeting revealed his ignorance of Kerala’s
version of Indian mythology. Otherwise, it revealed the arch politician’s
quintessential villainy of surreptitiously trying to erase Kerala’s version
which is diametrically opposed to the North Indian one when it comes to the
Maveli-Vamana purana.
For the
uninitiated, Maveli is the Malayalam version of Bali who was an Asura king, an antigod
(or a demon in the older translations). The Rig Veda, the Brahmanas, and
the Ramayana all have slightly different versions of the Bali story. In the Rig
Veda, Vishnu (whose incarnation is Vamana) takes three steps and thereby
creates the earth and everything else. The Brahmanas make it a war between the
gods and the antigods which the gods were losing. In the Ramayana, Bali appears
as the sole threat to the gods (instead of all the antigods). The Puranas make Vishnu
a Brahmin as well as a dwarf.
Whatever the
version, the story is ultimately one of the victory of divine deceit over Bali’s
simple goodness. It is interesting to note that in the later versions of the
story Vamana is portrayed as a Brahmin. Brahmins created all these stories in
order to reinforce their dominance over the others. Most religious myths have within
them their own power games. Amit Shah’s attempt to metamorphose Onam as Vamana
Jayanti is in tune with that same old power game.
Onam is a
celebration of equality, not power. It is a celebration of magnanimity, justice,
truthfulness. In all the Onam-related legends and poetry of Kerala, you will
find these themes [equality, magnanimity, justice and truthfulness] eulogised.
Maveli was a personification of these virtues. His surrender to the dwarf
Brahmin was an act of self-sacrifice, the ultimate sacrifice that a good being
can make.
Onam, for
every Malayali, is a longing for the return of that goodness which was sent
underground by the deceit of a powerful lobby.
The message
of Onam is more relevant today than ever. We live in a world that has been torn
apart into fragments by all kinds of power lobbies who use religion for their nefarious
activities.
Perhaps it’s
high time for these leaders to think of why our ancient writers created such
myths as Vamana’s where antigods are better than gods. I don’t think the creators
of these myths were vindicating deceitful power-mongering by making our gods
deceitful. Perhaps they were trying to teach us to probe deep and see that the
gods are not perfect and the antigods are not all wicked. Perhaps they wanted
us to understand ourselves and others better so that we could forge a better
world together.
Onam is a
celebration of a better world that is believed to have existed once upon a time
under the leadership of an antigod.
Wish you a
Happy and Meaningful Onam.
Amit Shah's poster on Onam in 2016
PS. My 2016 post on the same topic: Onam
– celebration of human longing for utopia [This remains the most read post
of mine on the topic so far.]
A legend that is etched in the minds of Malayalees for generations cannot be wished away by a poster by one mortal :)
ReplyDeleteOf course. The very attempt was scandalising. You may remember the uproar it created in social media.
DeleteI've only recently learned about the story behind Onam. It is sad that religion is manipulated for one's political agenda -- and what should have been a force of unity becomes a divider.
ReplyDeleteOnam remained confined to Malayalis until certain unnecessary controversies brought it wider attention.
DeleteThanks for the post.
ReplyDeleteHappy Onam, Greetings _()_
Thanks and greetings to you too.
DeleteHappy onam sir . I'm glad you shared this on your blog . Most of my friends from the northern states have controversial believes on onam and about malayalie's believes in their religion .. hope this will clear out their doubts .
ReplyDeleteLet's hope that at least some people will understand the spirit of Onam.
DeleteHappy Onam Tom! Yes, India has reached the stage when mythology is used for dividing people.
ReplyDeleteWe desperately need some good leaders.
DeleteHari OM
ReplyDeleteOnam Ashamsakal!
Perhaps they wanted us to understand ourselves and others better so that we could forge a better world together. YES! That. And all such tales show us how much the human being does not change its spots...
I shall be posting on Monday for close of Onam; it was the very first of the many festivals celebrated at Sandeepany and a joy to share in. (I got round to creating that index, b.t.w!) YAM xx
Ashamsakal to you too.
DeleteI'm going to follow your series earnestly.
Wishing you a meaningful Onam too Tomichan.
ReplyDeleteI missed out on sadhya this year. But there is enough food for thought in your post to chew on.
Thank you:)
☺️ Thanks, Arti. Greetings to you too.
Delete