Onam 2019

Onam Celebrations

Date: 13^th Sept. 2019

Onam is the biggest and the most important festival of Kerala and is a national festival since 1960. It is a harvest festival and is celebrated with joy and enthusiasm all over Kerala by people of all communities. According to a popular legend, the festival is celebrated, to welcome King Mahabali, whose spirit is said, to visit Kerala at the time of Onam.

Onam is celebrated, at the beginning of the month of Chingam, the first month of the Malayalam Calendar (Kollavarsham). This corresponds with August to September according to the Gregorian Calendar. The carnival of Onam lasts from four to ten days. The first day, Atham and tenth day, Thiruvonam are most important of all.

The story is of King Mahabali (popularly known as Maveli), a mythical king who ruled over Kerala. He was greatly respected in his kingdom and was considered to be wise, and extremely generous. Everybody was happy in the kingdom, there was no discrimination based on caste or class. Rich and poor, were treated equally. There was neither crime nor corruption. Due to his popularity, the Gods became, extremely concerned and jealous. They felt threatened, and to end his reign, they sent Lord Vishnu to earth in the form of a dwarf Brahmin; Vamana. Vishnu requested Mahabali for 3 feet of land which the kind Mahabali granted him. Vamana then began to expand and eventually increased himself to the size of cosmic proportions. With his first step, he covered the whole of the Earth, and with the other step, he covered the whole of the skies. He then asked the King, where is the space for him to keep his third foot? King Mahabali with folded hands bowed before Vamana and asked him to place his last step on his head so that he could keep the promise. The Brahmin placed his foot on the head of the King and trampled Mahabali to the netherworld. There, the king requested Lord Vishnu to be allowed to visit his land and people once in a year, and Vishnu granted him his wish. It is the day of the visit of King Mahabali to Kerala that is celebrated as Onam every year.

Apart from Studies IBA follows the culture and tradition to celebrate every festival where students take active participation while organising the event. All the festivals that happen in a year are headed by YMCC Committee, where students participate in various areas like cooking, decoration, procurements, etc. Everyone is part of various activities together, which brings in a lot of interaction and good memories together. Students made athapookalam (flower rangoli) with different types of flowers, decorating the mess as well as the area near the admin block. Students of both the batches cooked food together for around 450 people. They even arranged chenda melam for the first time in IBA where the actual tradition and cultures of the festival were seen. It was one of the most enjoyed festivals by the students of both the batches and faculty as well as staff members in IBA. Students learnt a lot about the tradition of Kerala and how they celebrate Onam with great zeal and enthusiasm.

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Onam 2019