Onam shopping crowd seen at Padmanabhaswamy temple Road in East fort, Thiruvananthapuram on September 14, 2024. | Photo Credit: Nirmal Harindran
Onam shoppers strived to run down the clock on Saturday (September 14, 2024), the eve of Kerala’s Thiru Onam festival.
They thronged markets, flower shops and sweet meat stalls to prepare a sumptuous spread for friends and family on Sunday.
The holiday cheer seemed evident in the long queues before confectionaries sold payasam, bolis, and banana chips, obligatory delicacies for the traditional Onam feast.
The State government had called off official celebrations, given the catastrophic landslide which claimed 264 lives and razed three villages in Wayanad in July.
Nevertheless, the low spirit evoked by the natural disaster appeared, arguably, on the wane as families crowded malls, electronic gadget stores, and textile showrooms, casting about for closing-hour bargain buys.
Uthrada Pachil
Saturday, which marks the much-celebrated Uthrada Pachil”, a spurt of pre-Thiru Onam retail activity, is perhaps most evident in the iconic Chalai market in Thiruvananthapuram.
The confined shop-lined streets are abuzz with street vendors hawking products ranging from clothes, toys, trinkets, glass bangles, and imitation gold ornaments.
Upscale malls, car and motorbike showrooms, and retail chains turned their expansive premises into Onam wonderlands, complete with artists decked out as Mahabalis, the mythical king and festival mascot, and traditional art form performances, including Kathakali, Theyyam, and Chanda Melam.
Agrarian past
Onam also marks a transient revival of long-lost agrarian traditions.
Several resident associations and youth clubs set up swings and organised traditional feats of strength, such as tugs-of-war, pole climbing, and log pillow fights.
The season also sees the temporary revival of traditional games, including “Kuttiyum Kolum and Uri Adi”.
Homecoming season
Onam is also a season of homecoming for the vast diaspora of Keralites worldwide. Thousands have returned home to reunite with their families and savour the wistfulness for a pastoral past almost erased by rapid urbanisation.
Secular heritage
Onam also marks the apogee of the auspicious first month of the Malayalam Calendar, Chingam. The festival is a major cultural and social event in the State’s calendar and has long been emblematic of Kerala’s secular and inclusive heritage. In considerable measure, Onam transcends religious, economic, and regional differences.
Onam myth
The festival celebrates the return from exile of the mythical Mahabali, an asura king banished by gods to the netherworld out of envy for his populist and even-handed rule. The lore has it that Kerala bedecks itself during Onam to hail the return of its tragic fairy tale king.
Floral welcome
The ubiquitous floral patterns adorning the patios of homes during Onam signal “Mahabali’s arrival.” They are also a mark of his welcome. Onam also refers to the legend of an imaginary egalitarian, prosperous, and utopian Kerala under Mahabali’s fairy tale reign.
The myth also holds a particular poignancy for Keralites. According to legend, Mahabali is fated to return to the netherworld after a joyful day with his subjects, stirring a vaguely wistful longing for next year’s Onam and manifesting as a moving reminder of the inexorable passage of seasons.
Published - September 14, 2024 02:29 pm IST
