BIMAL SHIVAJI
In Kerala they say during Onam, ‘Even if you have to sell your most valuable things, you have to relish Onam feast’ (Kaanam vittum Onam unnanam’). This time another saying would come to their aid, ‘Enjoy Onam with what you have’ (Ullathu kondu Onam pole). Onam 2020 will be like no other in recent memories.
Malayalis rush home to Kerala from all corners of the world if they can to celebrate the harvest festival of Onam. This year, Onam for Malayalis across the world would be a much subdued affair. Gone is the rush to the bazaars on Uthradom day to stock up for the feast during Onam days. With social distancing the norm, and COVID-19 playing truant, Malaylis can’t come together to revive the old memories at their ancestral home this year. Some have planned an Onam online. Even as the government claim that the death rate and infection rate is way below the average, this unusual times call for vigil and caution.
Even Kerala Tourism has taken the grand celebrations online. Its 10-day festival started on August 22 and will draw to a close on September 2. The Tourism Department’s ‘Onam Fest Kerala’ features a bouquet of heritage arts and celebratory rituals alongside new-age cultural programmes—all of it online. Of the events beamed so far, the Panchari Melam ensemble alone earned as many as one million eyeballs.
Grand feasts, enthralling boat races, traditional art forms and a pookalam in each courtyard, #Onam is #Kerala at her prettiest. #HappyOnam pic.twitter.com/3QrH2LPDJi
— Kerala Tourism (@KeralaTourism) September 4, 2017
On the day of Thiruonam (August 31) is a Kathakali show, followed by a live band performance and an Onam theme film the subsequent days. On August 29 was Family Onam Celebrations and Job Kurian’s music show (is on Sunday). All programmes are at 7 pm.
The ‘Sadya’ banquet was up on social media on the afternoon of August 27, with a row of people in ethnic Kerala dress sitting cross-legged on floor-mats and eating with the hand an array of dishes for the rice served on banana leaves. The classical value of different types of curries, fried vegetables, rounded pappadams, pickles, chutneys and two courses of payasam desserts came to the fore with the anchor explaining (in English) the order and manner of serving each dish, besides a brief on their ingredients and recipe.
A message Kerala Tourism’s Facebook page says is quite relevant during this testing times. ‘This Onam, let us relive the good times when Mahabali ruled the land and people lived in peace and harmony’.
For the past three years, various natural disasters have struck this small piece of land on the southern tip of India. Legend has it that Lord Parashuram threw his axe and the seawater receded to reveal the land that is Kerala. The past three years have seen the verdant land struck repeatedly by floods throwing normal life out of gear. As if the waters are claiming back what is rightfully theirs.
Each time when it overcomes misfortunes and tragedy and gets into a celebratory mood, misfortune strikes the land and the people again. It is in the midst of this that Keralites are celebrating Onam 2020. Donning new traditional clothes (shirt and dhothi for all men and traditional Saree for women) and relishing the Onam feast is de rigueur for the Malayali anywhere in the world. Be it in Kerala, anywhere in India, in the Arab world or the western nations, the Malayali has to don their traditional dress and sitting down on a mat on the floor, they eat from a plantain leaf, considered the most traditional way of celebrating the festival.
While the preparations for the feast start a day earlier, the food itself is cooked and laid out by afternoon in most houses in Kerala. And any guest who walks in on the day of Onam is considered as Mahabali, the Asura king who is believed to have ruled this beautiful land, and is offered a full meal in all houses. Such incidents have been recounted by old timers.
The ten-day long floral carpet or the athapookalam is another ritual that was an integral part of Onam celebrations for children and there were often competitions held by various organisations for the best floral carpets. This is another custom that has been observed in a subdued manner this time round.
Even though Kerala’s Onam celebrations have sort of transformed into a communal affair with successive governments spending huge amounts to hold various programmes for over three decades now, Onam 2020 would be the most subdued one in recent memory. Onam celebrations had also transformed into more of a tourist attraction with lots of foreigners making a beeline for God’s Own Country come August-September. The elephant pageantry and the various cultural programmes organised across the State were huge attractions for tourists both Indian and foreign. This year all such celebrations have been cancelled and few tourists were seen in the cities of Kerala.
A shocking change from the past is in the Malayalam cinema industry. COVID-19 had stopped the movie industry on its tracks and departing from tradition no Onam releases have been announced, that too during a season when cinemas of Malayali heartthrobs Mammooty and Mohanlal become huge grossers. OTT releases have been planned but crowds at the cinema halls will be missed and the huge earnings from this industry that feed thousands won’t materialise pushing many into hardship.
Like they say, changes are inevitable and all these new precautions, hygiene standards, and health protocols would hopefully pave way for a new society that is more caring and mindful of others in the community. We will hopefully enjoy a more vibrant Onam next year that harks back to the past glory of this wonderful land.
