Sunday, September 4, 2016

WHY DO WE CELEBRATE ONAM

If you ask any keralite what is the significance of Onam they will say with out thinking that it is the day Remembering our King Mahabali but many of them do not know that it is also celebrates the commemoration of Vamana avatara of Lord Vishnu.
The significance of onam festival is firstly being a harvest festival,it is time to thank God for the bountiful yield and enjoy the bounty of nature after a year of hard labour. Secondly it is celebrated the commemoration of Vamana avatara ( Thiruonam is regarded as the birth star of Lord Vamana the fifth incarnation of Maha Vishnu which is one of the 10 incarnations (Dasavataram) and third to welcome the spirit of King Mahabali who is said to visit the place at the time of Onam.
The name "Mahabali" itself means Great Sacrifice and he fulfilled his name as the great martyr for the sake of Truth ("Satya"). Every keralite knows that Mahabali's rule considered as the golden era of Kerala, who had brought great peace and prosperity to the land. For Last years onam post so many people especially children questioned me that why we kearlites are worshipping a god who sent the good king in to Patala lokam (Neither world).
The interesting part of the Vamana Avatar is that Lord Vishnu does not kill any demons. Vamana Avatar was meant only to see that the power of the demons does not increase, as having one righteous demon would not change the whole set of demons. For the devotion of Mahabali, Lord Vishnu (Vamana) granted him rule over the Neitherworld. As a last gift, Mahabali was granted permission to visit his subjects once a year. Thus, Keralites celebrate the Onam festival to commemorate the memory of the Great King Mahabali who would keep his promise to visit.
In Yoga Vasistha Lord Rama asks his guru sage Vasistha, Who king Mahabali was, and the answer he got was that he was a great king and was protected by lord vishnu.
Thus Onam is 8000 year old festival and most important cultural festival-to remind the denizens of a once blissful, harmoniuos and happy era – under the rule of a benevolent king.The beauty of the festival lies in its secular fabric. People of all religions, castes and communities celebrate the festival with equal joy and verve.As the festival lasts for ten days and is linked to many elements of kerala's culture and tradition it can be undoubtedly said that these elements constitute the diversity, colorfulness and richness that no other festival can claim in this world.

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