Onam: The Festival that Lights the Spirit

By: WE Staff | Monday, 31 August 2020

India is a land of diversity, thus, the country celebrates one or the other festival pertaining to different religion, language or community. Onam is one such festival being celebrated in Kerala, but, resonates the vibes throughout the country making Onam Sadya popular among us. This is a ten-day harvest festival that marks the home coming of the King Mahabali. It’s the biggest festival for the Keralites, and the entire state unites to celebrate and rejoice their harvest festival.
In every festival that India celebrates, women hold high significance. Their contribution for the festival begins with preparation for the occasion and they remain active until the celebration ends. In comparison to other festivals, we find women role in Onam is quite prominent. Let us glance through few such special things that women grace on these auspicious Onam days. 
Draping Kasavu 
Kasavu is a sari that sets apart Kerala women from other Indian women. It is a white cotton sari with a golden border. The term Kasavu actually refers to the golden zari used in the sari border. Kerala’s Kasavu emerges as the finest traditional saris that define the beauty of every Malayalee women. The sari’s intrinsic borders soaked in the color of pure gold, and it is considered as the most auspicious attire of the women in Kerala. 
Pookkalam
Pookkalam is a flower bed arrangement done for the Onam festival. This traditional making of Pookkalam making is prepared by women on the Atham day, the ten days before Thiruonam. The authentic pookkalam is designed with ten circles; each circle is believed to represent ten different deities in Hinduism. Also, it is believed that these floral decorations symbolizes the combat between the demons and the devas (Demi Gods). 
In the first day of the Onam, there would be only one circle, the next day there would be two circles and so on until tenth day on which ten circles would be drawn using different colors of flowers. It is also said that each nakshatram of the day could also be represented on the Pookkalam. In the present day, the fading tradition has also brought in artificial colors to make this traditional Pookkalam. 
Onam Sadya
The Onam Sadya (feast) is another requisite part of Thiruvonam, and almost every Malayalee attempts to either prepare it or at least attend one on this occasion. The Onam Sadya represents the spirit of the season and is traditionally made with various seasonal vegetables that include cucumber, yam, ash gourd and more.  This nine course meal is served traditionally served on plantain leaves. The dishes served in the Sadya may even exceed more than two dozen. The speciality of the Onam Sadya is signified in the famous Malayalam proverb ‘Kaanam Vittum Onam Unnanam’ which says that ‘one must have the Onam lunch even by selling his/her property if needed’. 
Thumbi Thullal
Thumbi Thullal (women dance) is a folk art form performed by women. It is an important part of Onam celebration. This dance is one of the most important events of Onam as it brings out the true spirit of the festival. In Thumbi Thullal, around six to seven women dressed in the traditional apparel participate. These seven women would sit in a circle and the lead performer referred as Thumbi (dragon fly) would sit at the center of the circle. She would be holding a bunch of thumba flowers that is commonly available in Kerala. Now, the lead performer would sing a fast paced song and the other women would join her. Gradually the song pace would be increased and the lead performer would brush the floor as if she is possessed and as the song ends the tempo reduces steadily.