By: Kumar Punithavel
Onam is a verypopular festival of Kerala state of India,celebrated in the month of Chingam as per the Malayalam calendar. In accordance with the modern Georgian calendar, Onam is celebrated in the month of August or September lasting ten days. This year it starts on 22nd of August and goes on to 2nd of September.The last day of the festival is in starThiruonam, and thus the name for the festival.
The festival includes various activities religious and sports performed by the Keralites. Various forms of dance, music, worshipping and sports are conducted with much zeal and joy. Boat races are one of the favourite part of this festival. People decorate their doors and place flower mats (Malar Kolam) on the entrance so as to welcome King Mahabali. Onam is also the harvest festival of Kerala and holds great significance in the heart of Keralites.
Like in every Hindu festival there is a legend behind the Thiruonam festival too. Once upon a time lived a great King Maha Bali, who was a mighty ruler. He controlled the three worlds, the BhuLoka the earth, Deva Loka the world of celestials and PathalaLoka the Nether world. He wasanextremely generous and kind Asura King, and everyone adored him. However, the celestials of the Deva world were not happy with him because he had defeated them to conquer the celestial world.
Devas went and appealed to Lord Vishnu to help them win the Deva Loka back. Lord Vishnu taking pity on them, took the form of Vamana, a dwarf Brahmin, and visited the king. Since it was considered auspicious to provide them with donations, King Bali asked what he would like as alms. Lord Vishnu in the form of Vamana requested for three steps of land, once the three steps werepromised, he began to grow huge. He placed his first step on Earth, Second on Heaven, and since he didn’t have any space to put his third step, King Bali offered his own head. Lord Vishnu in the form of Vamana kept his third step on Vamana’s head and pushed the King down to the Netherworld. As the King was honest,benevolent, the impressed Lord Vishnu offered him for any boon that he wished. In turn King Bali requested to his people, once a year, which was granted. This visit was later given the name Onam.
Hence, the boon was granted, and on this day the people celebrate his return by celebrating Onam every year.
Recently, I was reading some of the Sangam Tamil poems and stumbled into a poem regarding Onam festival in Madurai and thought I share it with you. MaduraikKanchi is an ancient poem in Sangam era. It is a didactic longpoem of 782 lines, and its title connotes the ‘poetic counsel addressed to the King of Madurai’ Composed by a poet MankudiMaruthanar the chief poet in Pandya king Neduncheliyan.MaduraikKanchi is the sixth poem in the collectionPathuppattu meaning ten songs.It is dated in the tail end of Sangam era which dates third century of common era.The poem praises the king for his valour and conquest. Like many learned poets he gave his counsel on the impermanence of life and the importance of justice to the king, not that he was a bad king.
Invariably these poems become the telescope through which one can get glimpse of the life about two thousand years ago in Tamil land. Madurai city has many temples, and inside these temples are musicians playing various styles of music, according to the poet.In Tamil we say one grain of rice will indicate how well the rice is cooked in a pot. Here let me also take a grain to see how good the full collection of poems is. Just nine lines MaduraikKanchi comprising of 590 to 599 has a store of information to share with:This is a description of Onam celebrated in Madurai City during the reign of ‘ThalayalanganathuCheruVendraNedunchezhiyan‘(meaning Nedunchezhiyan who won the Thalayalanganam battle). Today Onam is considered as a Kerala harvest festival. But eons gone by it was a festival celebrated in whole of Tamil region during the Sangam era in the pre common era.Lets see how it was in Madurai:
During the holy Thiruonam day in the streets of Madurai there will be procession and people would have gathered in large numbers to view it. The hamlets around Madurai are getting ready to celebrate the auspicious day of Onam, birthday of Maayon (Thirumal, equivalent of Vishnu). Maayon wears a golden garland and destroyed groups of strong Asuras. In the hamlet of warrior clans, warriors with wound marks on their foreheads and strong calloused arms, wearing flower garlands (that signify that they are ready been to battle), engage their elephant to fight each other. The whole town is there to see the spectacle. To protect the audience from elephants, a long fence of spiked caltrops is set up and covered with blue cloth. Due to the rush the fence falls down and the spikes prick the audience. Everyone is pleasantly drunk of pure clarified toddy. Here is the poem from line 590 to 599 from MaduraikKanchi.
கணம்கொள்அவுணர்கடந்தபொலம்தார்
மாயோன்மேயஓணநல்நாள்
கோணம்தின்றவடுவாழ்முகத்த
சாணம்தின்றசமம்தாங்குதடகை
மறம்கொள்சேரிமாறுபொருசெருவின்
மாறாதுஉற்றவடுபடுநெற்றி
சுரும்புஆர்கண்ணிபெரும்புகல்மறவர்
கடுகளிறுஓட்டலின்காணுநர்இட்ட
நெடுகரைகாழகம்நிலம்பரல்உறுப்ப
கடுகள்தேறல்மகிழ்சிறந்துதிரிதர
On the auspicious day of Onam,
birthday of golden garland wearing *Maayon,
who destroyed groups of Asuras,
in the hamlets of warriors scar
scarred with sword marks on their faces
and strong arms calloused by riding elephants,
passionate warriors wearing garland of flowers
and woundscars in their foreheads
got in fights with other clans,
engage elephants to fight each other;
blue cloth spread over a fence of caltrops
to protect the audience, falls down and pricks them;
people roam around buzzed with pure clarified toddy.
The Sangam literature plays a very important role in not only bring the rich traditions but also puts the history in order. Today an average person in India will say Onam is a harvest festival belonging to Kerala, but before even a Malayalam language evolved when South Western coastal India was ruled Tamil Chera Kings while further South under the Pandian rule Onam was celebrated there too by the Tamils.
