Keralan tradition and the origin of the onam myth..?
Onam is once more here. However, the well-known harvest festival of kerala has a complex history that is full of contradictions and conflict. Each of these positions has the potential to lead you down rabbit holes that serve up a scrumptious concoction of myth, fantasy, history, ideologies, identities, and even realpolitik.
The benevolent Asura king Mahabali visiting his people each year is the most well-known legend connected to Onam. According to the legend, everyone was treated equally in Mahabali's kingdom, and all of his subjects enjoyed peaceful, prosperous lives. The aura of Mahabali made the deva king indra feel threatened, and he went to Lord vishnu to demand that the king be subdued. Lord vishnu approached Mahabali in the form of his fifth incarnation, a young Brahmin boy named Vamana.
Vamana was given free reign to choose anything he desired from the kingdom by the king, who was performing a yajna. Vamana only asked for three steps of land, and Mahabali immediately granted the request. Suddenly expanding into the sky, the dwarf-sized Vamana covered the earth with his first step and the heavens with his second. Mahabali had nowhere else to go, so in order to keep his word, he offered his head. Vamana then sent him to Pathala (the netherworld) with his third step. However, Lord vishnu granted Mahabali's request to be permitted to visit his subjects once a year, and as a result, onam is now celebrated on the day of his return.
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