With just a week to go for Onam, Kerala gears up for the season of festivities, food and shopping. The legend of Onam is woven into the warp and weft of Kerala and the celebrations manifest itself in many forms at different places. From the spiritual, the festival has moved to the temporal and it has become a coming-together of Malayalis all over the world. Here are four places to visit in Kerala to enjoy the legend of Onam.
Vilayil Veedu, Karamana, Thiruvananthapuram
Work has begun 24x7 at Vilayil Veedu, Melarannoor, Karamana, about four km away from the famous Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, to craft the ceremonial Onavillu (bow) for the temple. Situated amongst ancient temples and heritage agraharams, this home has been the place where the Onavillu, a tradition unique to Thiruvananthapuram, has been made for centuries by members of this family.
Craftsmen giving final touches to 'Onavillu'
Flat pieces of wood, usually made of Kadambu and Mahogany trees, are shaped into dimensions ranging from 3.5 to 4.5 ft in length and 4 to 6 inches in breadth. Six kinds of themes are painted on the bows: Ananthasayanam, Dasavathaaram, Sreerama Pattabhishekham, Krishnaleela, Shastha and Vinayaka. The red-painted bows, dedicated to incarnations of Lord Vishnu, with tassels on either end, are intricately decorated with figures of Lord Vishnu in certain colours only. Natural dyes made of charcoal powder, white sand, rice flour, turmeric and colours extracted from plants were used for painting. Now, coloured powders used for kalamezhuthu are mixed with those. The craftsmen led by Binkumar Achari willingly explain how the Onavillu is made and the legend behind it. They have also begun making one-feet miniature versions of the villu for those who would like to take it home as a memento. Contact: 9633928852
Thrikkakara Temple, Kochi
The only temple dedicated to Vamana, it has a special significance during Onam. The deity is also known as Thrikkakarappan and conical structures made of clay known as Thrikkakarappan are an integral part of ‘pookkalams’ in certain regions in the State. Mahabali is believed to have worshipped the Siva at the temple here and the belief is that he was sent to the netherworld at Thrikkakara.
Pakalppooram at Thrikkakara temple in Kochi
The festival begins 10 days before Thiruvonam, on Atham day. ‘Pakalpooram’, conducted on the day before Thiruvonam, that is Uthradam (September 10), is the main attraction. This year the grand procession of Vamana will have nine caparisoned elephants; the diety will be carried on one of these. The melam will have artists such as Poroor Unnikrishnan and Kalpathy Balakrishnan in it. The 10-day long festival includes cultural programmes. And the Thiruvona sadya is attended by devotees from all across Kerala. Served at the adjacent Thiruvonam auditorium, around 20,000 people are expected to attend the sadya this year, says Pramod Kumar TC, secretary, advisory committee of the temple. “There is a story behind the Onasadya prepared at home as well. The belief is that all Malayalis would be at the temple, celebrating and having the sadya here. Since all cannot be here, the sadya is prepared at home as a symbolic partaking of it at the temple. Just like how Thrikkakarappan is placed in the pookkalam, imagining him to be present at every home,” says Pramod.
(Shilpa Nair Anand)
Aranmula, Pathanamthitta
What is Onam without a sadya! And how about one with more than 50 to 70 eats on a banana leaf with the maximum going up to 108! Lakhs of devotees flock to the Aranmula Sri Parthasarathy temple to partake in the Aranmula Vallasadya that has ritual blending with revelry. The feast begins, at noon, soon after the pooja at the temple with palliyodams (decorated snake boats), rowed by teams of men clad in white dhothi and thorthu reaching the temple ghat. They row to the rhythm of the Vanchipattu and songs in praise of Lord Krishna. Received with drums and fanfare, the oarsmen are taken in a procession to the temple and from there to the sadya. As there are several such palliyodams on a single day, sadyas are arranged all around the temple premises. It is a visual and aural feast as well with the oarsmen demanding for more of different items on the leaf in verse only.
On the day before Thiruvonam (September 11), a beautifully decorated boat known as the Thiruvonathoni, laden with cereals, vegetables and spices, begins its journey from Kattoor to Aranmula in the evening. It reaches the temple in the early hours of the day of Thiruvonam and the feast is prepared with the ingredients on the Thiruvonathoni in accordance with an ancient practice of the family of the Kattoor Mana and 18 families in Kattoor village providing the ingredients for the Thiruvonam feast at the Aranmula Sree Parthasarathy Temple.
Passes are available for the sadya at the temple . The sadya is open to all. The festival, which began on August 5, concludes on October 6. Also check out the famous Aranmula mirror, which is made here. Uthrattathi Vallamkali, the annual boat race, will be held at Aranmula on September 15. Contact: Aranmula Palliyoda Sangham: 8281113010, Aranmula Metal Mirror Society: 9946669031
Pulikkali, Swaraj Round, Thrissur
Discover the inner tiger in you along with thousands of men borrowing the stripes of the tiger and dancing to the thumping beats of rural percussion instruments. In 2016, women also daubed body art to call up their inner tigresses. Pulikkali, an annual event, usually takes place on Naalaam Onam and has pulis (men from all walks of life) prancing around as tigers.
Pulikkali
“Preparation of the Pulikkali at Swaraj Round begins from 6 am onwards. Our team of 51 tigers begin their make-up by 6 am on the premises of a Siva temple in Viyyur. Earlier about four to five people would help the men adorn the colours and stripes of tigers but now we have 30 to 40 make-up artistes. By 4.15 pm, we move in buses to Swaraj Round and we are there till about 8 pm. After we return to Viyyur, the body paint is washed off and that goes on till midnight,” explains TS Sumesh of the Viyyur Centre Pulikkali Sangam, which has been participating in the Pulikkali for several years now.
Disregarding the financial crunch that has hit many teams, there will be six teams in the Pulikkali this year and several floats as well. Begun two centuries ago by Shakthan Thampuran, the famous tiger-hunt themed dance may have been begun to wake up the populace from an Onam-induced reverie or to capture the majesty and grace of the tiger. The boisterous parade has men mimicking the movements of the tiger on the prowl. Many a time, the best of the tigers are men with a paunch on which is inked the ferocious visage of the tiger. There are hunters too on the move. Although scaled-down versions of Pulikkali are found in other places in Kerala, the one to watch is certainly the Pulikkali at Swaraj Round. This year, it is on September 14.
