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My Favourite Festival


Festivals ceased to charm me once I grew out of childhood. Crowds are the souls of festivals and I detest crowds. A crowd doesn’t have a mind. It is a leviathan full of passion and energy. All brawn and no brain. All too often I am driven to the conclusion that festivals are so popular precisely because they don’t require anyone to think anything worthwhile and people don’t like to think.

There is one festival, however, that I have always looked forward to with good cheer. Onam. Onam is a fairly long festival. The celebrations run over weeks. Flowers and music are the souls of this festival. No pollutions. Kerala and its people celebrated Onam just a month back with all its traditional art, music and cultural richness.

Pookkalam (floral rangoli) is the first thing that will come to the mind of anyone who has seen Onam celebrations. It is an intricate floral design assumed to be a colourful and gentle carpet meant to welcome Mahabali, the hero of Onam. More about him later.

Boat races are one of the iconic elements of Onam. The snake boats used for this are no ordinary boats. They are long (snake-like) and manned by a huge number of rowers. The rhythm of the musical beats that drive the rowers stays with you much after the race is over.

Traditional art form and games are the next exhilarations of Onam. Kathakali which is a classical dance-drama, Pulikali which is a folk art where performers paint their bodies to look like tigers, and Kummattikali, a mask dance, are all fabulous entertainments. Then there are many games too like tug-of-war, archery, and pot-breaking (uriyadi).

Onam has its own dress code too. New clothes are a must. And it’s the traditional wear of the state.

What has always held my fancy, above all, is the legend behind the festival. According to the legend, Onam is celebrated to welcome the ancient King of Kerala. Mahabali, or Maveli as he is called affectionately by Malayalis, was an ideal ruler during whose reign all citizens were happy. There was peace, justice, equality, and prosperity. Maveli’s country was a utopia. Then the gods became jealous of this Asura (demon) king.

Now, if Maveli was a demon then his subjects must have been demons too, right? This is where I begin to wonder whether the legend has a North Indian root too. Remember how Amit Shah once greeted the people of Kerala on the occasion of Onam? He called the festival Vamana Jayanti. Vamana, an avatar of Vishnu, is the god who sent Kerala’s beloved Maveli to the netherworld merely because he was better than the gods.

Amit Shah’s greeting met with troll after troll from Malayalis, so much so Mr Shah never dared to greet Malayalis again on the occasion of ‘Vamana Jayanti’. The demon-king, not any divine incarnation, is the hero of Onam. The people of Kerala won’t let any right-wing Hindutva ideologue to subvert the festival of the betrayal of a just ruler by a divine incarnation. Onam is a festival that critiques the hegemony of a Brahminical hierarchy and the politics that upholds it. Onam is a festival with a mind, in other words. And a culture too.

PS. This post is a part of ‘Feeling Festive Blog Hop’ hosted by Manali Desai and Sukaina Majeed under #EveryConversationMatters

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Comments

  1. Liz A.October 15, 2024 at 1:19 AM

    I'm with you on crowds. Too many people. But a good festival... It has to be something you enjoy a lot to brave the crowds, though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalOctober 15, 2024 at 7:53 AM

      Because of my ochlophobia, I stay at a distance even from Onam celebrations.

      Delete
  2. magiceyeOctober 15, 2024 at 7:05 AM

    Watching the boat race live is on my Must Watch watchlist.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Murthy K v v sOctober 15, 2024 at 8:01 AM

    Onam is an awesome festival. Especially I like that boat races and the songs associated with it, though I understand very little. Definitely every legend must have some underlying truth. Well written sir.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yamini MacLeanOctober 15, 2024 at 12:34 PM

    Hari Om
    On arrival at the ashram in 2011, I was chucked into the Indian festival fetish with three in a row, Krishna Janmastami, Ganesh Chaturthi, and Onam. A whirlwind! All surely brought cheer and a lift of spirit, but I admit I think fondly of Onam, for it was gentler, somehow more graceful... YAM xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalOctober 15, 2024 at 6:53 PM

      Onam is quite a contrast to the noisy and gaudy festivals in north India. Diwali and Holi were nightmares for me, especially with my sensitive lungs.

      Delete
  5. THE WRITTEN WILDFLOWERSOctober 15, 2024 at 4:36 PM

    What a beautifully written piece!

    Your reflection on the essence of festivals, particularly Onam, strikes a chord. The contrast you’ve drawn between the chaotic nature of most festivals and the cultural richness of Onam is spot on. I love how you highlight the beauty of pookkalam, the vibrancy of the snake boat races, and the deep-rooted traditions of art and music. Your take on Mahabali and the festival’s connection to equality and justice gives Onam a deeper, thought-provoking dimension. This blog not only celebrates the joy of Onam but also challenges conventional narratives with grace.

    Well done!

    ReplyDelete

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