Harvest · Vamana (Vishnu) and King Mahabali
Onam (Thiruvonam)
Kerala's harvest festival of flower carpets, a grand feast and the annual return of King Mahabali.
Also known as: Thiruvonam, Kerala Harvest Festival
Date and muhurat
✓ 28.6519°N, 77.2315°E · Asia/Kolkata
Calculating for your city…
When is it observed?
In the Malayalam month of Chingam (August to September). Thiruvonam is the day when the Thiruvonam (Shravana) nakshatra is present, and the ten-day festival leads up to it, beginning on Atham, the Hasta nakshatra.
About Onam (Thiruvonam)
Onam is the most important festival of Kerala, kept by people of all communities. It falls at the end of the monsoon, when the rice harvest is near and the countryside is green, and it lasts ten days from Atham to Thiruvonam.
The days are filled with flower carpets (pookalam) in the courtyard, new clothes, swings, games and music, and on Thiruvonam itself with the Onasadya, a feast served on a banana leaf. Boat races and tiger dances add to the public celebrations.
Significance
The festival honours the memory of King Mahabali, remembered as a just and generous ruler under whom, as the old song has it, all people were equal and happy. Onam is said to be the day he visits his people once a year, and the preparations are a way of welcoming him.
It also celebrates the harvest and the sense of community: families return home, neighbours share food, and everyone is welcome at the table. The cultural symbols of the festival, such as pookalam and kaikottikali, belong to the whole of Kerala regardless of religion.
The ten days of Onam
- 1Atham: begin the pookalam with a small ring of yellow flowers in the courtyard, adding a new ring every day.
- 2Clean the house, decorate the entrance and buy new clothes (onakkodi) in the days before Thiruvonam.
- 3Make small clay pyramids called Onathappan (also called Thrikkakara Appan) in the last days before Thiruvonam, and set them with flowers in the courtyard or pookalam; the exact day and way differ between homes and regions.
- 4Bathe early on Thiruvonam morning, dress in new or traditional clothes such as the kasavu mundu or set-mundu, and visit the temple.
- 5Prepare and share the Onasadya, a vegetarian feast of many dishes on a banana leaf, with payasam as dessert.
- 6Play traditional games, swing (oonjal), and perform dances such as Thiruvathira kali and Kaikottikali.
- 7Join the public celebrations: vallam kali (snake-boat races), Pulikali (tiger dance) in Thrissur, and cultural processions.
The story
The Puranic story says that Mahabali, a grandson of the devotee Prahlada, became so powerful and popular that the gods grew uneasy. Vishnu came as Vamana, a short Brahmin boy, and asked the king for as much land as he could cover in three steps.
Mahabali, though warned by his teacher Shukracharya, kept his word. Vamana grew immense; his first step covered the earth, the second the sky, and for the third Mahabali offered his own head. Pleased by his devotion, Vishnu sent him to rule the nether world of Sutala and granted him the boon of visiting his people once a year, which is Onam.
What to do
- ✓Make a fresh pookalam each morning using natural flowers.
- ✓Wear traditional or new clothes on Thiruvonam.
- ✓Serve the Onasadya on a banana leaf and share it with guests and neighbours.
- ✓Invite those who are alone to join the feast.
- ✓Visit the temple and elders.
What to avoid
- ✕Do not step on or disturb the pookalam.
- ✕Do not use plastic or artificial flowers if natural ones are available.
- ✕Avoid wasting the food of the sadya.
- ✕Do not turn the festival into a display of status.
- ✕Avoid unsafe crowding at boat races and processions.
Around the country
- Alappuzha, Aranmula and Kottayam: vallam kali snake-boat races on rivers and backwaters.
- Thrissur: Pulikali, in which painted performers dance as tigers through the streets.
- Thrikkakara in Kochi: the Vamana temple, linked to the legend, holds a major celebration.
- Malayali communities elsewhere in India and abroad host Onam sadyas and cultural programmes in halls and homes.
Frequently asked questions
Is Onam only for Hindus?
Onam is a cultural and harvest festival kept by Malayalis of every religion in Kerala. The legend is Hindu, but the celebration is shared.
What does the Onasadya include?
Many vegetarian dishes served on a banana leaf, such as rice, sambar, avial, thoran, pachadi, pickles, papadam and payasam. The number of dishes is often twenty or more.
How is the date of Thiruvonam fixed?
It is the day in the Malayalam month of Chingam on which the Thiruvonam (Shravana) nakshatra rules. This page works it out from the Moon's position for your location.