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14. THE CONCEPT OF AVATARS
ONAM
"Thiru Onam (from Sravana?) is celebrated in the second half of August (the Chingam month of Kollam Era) when the August monsoon rains come to an end and the summer heat gives way to the pleasant warmth of the Kerala autumn. Anthropologists see in Onam a great fertility rite, the ceremony of Thanksgiving for a plentiful harvest. For Keralites Onam is the celebration of the return of Mahabali, their once and future king. This king once ruled over the Keralites during the Golden Age before caste existed, "when all men were equal, when no one was poor, when there was neither theft nor dread of theives" (Maveli natu vanitum kalam/ manusharellam onnu pole ...). As the folk song suggests, the great king Mahabali ruled before the caste system was introduced in the Chera society even before the Cheras' arrival in Kerala in the eighth century. The complete folk-song is given below in its English version:
When Maveli, our King, rules the land, All the peoples form one casteless race. And people live joyful and merry; They are free from all harms. There is neither theft nor deceit, And no one is false in speech either. Measures and weights are right; No one cheats or wrongs the neighbor. When Maveli, our King, rules the land, All the peoples form one casteless race.
The celebration of the return of Mahabali takes four days for the Keralites. The house and yard are cleaned; a temporary mud stall is put up and washed with the purifying cow-dung solution for the royal visitor. Flowers are strewn over it for the king to sit upon; pyramid-shaped images of the king called Trikkakarayappan, made of wood or clay, are placed upon it as the onlookers applaud and cheer in sheer welcome. Pujas (worship service) are performed during the four days of Onam every morning; parents give children presents, especially dresses on the occasion. Large-scale feasts are held at this family reunion -increasingly Onam is a holiday, like the American Thanksgiving Holiday, which is characterized by family reunion and feasting. Three foods used to be essential for the
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