Celebrating Onam in India

Finding out there’s a major festival going on when you’re traveling through a country can feel like you’ve won the travel lottery – so finding out there are two big festivals is even better. Visitors to India in the fall will be pleased to know that not only is there a nationwide celebration of the start of autumn – Navaratri – there’s also a huge festival – Onam – in one specific Indian state at roughly the same time.

In the state of Kerala, Onam is the biggest festival on the calendar. The festival celebrates the harvest season and the return of King Maveli, and it runs for 10 days. Legend holds that King Maveli (also called Mahabali), a type of Hindu god called an Asura, comes back each year to Kerala where it is said there was no happier or more peaceful time than when Mahabali ruled.

>> In 2011, Onam takes place from August 31 through September 9.

>> Read more about Sharad Navaratri in India, too, to find out if you can celebrate both holidays during one trip.

Onam is celebrated during the Hindu calendar month of Kollavarsham, so the dates on the Gregorian calendar change from year to year. It is, therefore, important to find out what the current year’s dates for the festival are before you book a trip – but you can generally count on Onam occuring around late August and early September.

During the 10 days of Onam leading up to the final (and biggest) celebrations, the festivities taking place throughout the state of Kerala include boat races, parades, sporting events, music and dance performances, and large feasts. One element of the festival that involves residents at their homes (and not just in the temples) is the creation of intricate and beautiful “carpets” of flower petals. These carpets, called Onam Pookkalam, are constructed as welcome mats, in a sense, in front of every house for the returning king. The Pookkalam are added to day after day during the festival, getting more complicated and colorful.

The final day of Onam is called Thiru Onam, and it’s the day when the king is set to return each year. People clean their homes and wear new clothes on this day, attend special ceremonies in temples, eat big feasts with their families, and in many cities there are huge fireworks shows in the evening.

In some places, there are two days’ worth of activity following the traditional final day of Onam, which mark King Mahabali’s departure from Kerala back to the heavens. These activities usually include cleaning up the Pookkalam in front of each house and cleaning the statues that have been out of the temples for the duration of Onam before they’re replaced inside their temples.

>> Want to be in Kerala during Onam? Find out more about cheap flights to India as well as domestic flights within India to get from place to place in the country.

photo by Eldo Rajan