A very Happy Onam to all the fabulous readers of Artsy Craftsy Mom! We celebrate Onam every year on the 1st day of Chingam Masam, the first month of the Malayalam calendar which is a solar calendar. If you are intrigued about this harvest festival – the why, the how and all the celebrations, well read on!

Celebrating Onam the Harvest festival of Kerala, India

Why we celebrate Onam, the harvest festival, well read on!

The Legend of Onam

There was once a Demon King Mahabali, in whose rule there was peace, prosperity, and happiness. Now Demons are supposed to be bad and do evil things, but not Mahabali!

Mahabali was a devout follower of Lord Vishnu and under the influence of his Grandfather, Prahlada, who himself was a good demon! Being born in the royal family, Mahabali was destined to be a King one day! And he was a very good ruler too. But the Devas(Gods) were jealous of the growing prosperity of the land and the popularity of Mahabali.

Mahabali was not only a great ruler but was also a great conqueror and conquered all the 3 worlds. Gods who were humiliated by their defeat to Mahabali, decided to seek help from Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu then disguised himself as a small Brahmin boy (Vamana), went to Mahabali who had promised everyone that he would give them whatever they asked of him as a celebration of his win. Vamana then asked the King to grant him land that could be measured by 3 of his footsteps. King’s advisors, who knew there was some trickery here advised him against making any promises! But the King, who realized who was Vamana, agreed to give him whatever he asked for. Then Vamana grew and grew. The first step, he took all of the lands on earth, the second step he took all of the sky that belonged to the gods and there was now nowhere else to keep his 3rd leg. Here the great King asked Vamana to put his 3rd step on him! So Vamana placed a foot on Mahbali’s head thus pushing him under the earth in to underworld where all the demons reside!

But Lord Vishnu was impressed with Mahabali and gave him permission to rule the Underworld and also granted him one wish! Mahabali who loved his Praja (people) very much, asked him permission to visit them once a year! Lord Vishnu granted him his wish and on Onam day, Mahabali comes from the underworld to see if his Praja is happy. This is the legend of Onam and I suppose the only Demon King who is celebrated for goodness and prosperity!

Onam for kids

In Kerala, Onam is celebrated over 9 days, ending with Thiruvonam! Kids have much to rejoice and celebrate as they are gifted with new clothes, wonderful food served on Banana leaves and loads of yummy sweets! People who have migrated away from their home-land miss the spirit and thrill of Onam but you could still do a lot in the comfort of your home!

Here are some of the activities you could do at home with your kids!

Athapookalam (Flower Rangoli)

Traditionally in Kerala, we put a Rangoli with flowers & flower petals in front of our homes and in corridors. We start with a single ring on the first day of Onam, then add the 2nd ring on the 2nd day and so on! On the 9th day, it is a huge Rangoli, with the colors of nature weaved beautifully in wonderful designs!

Plucking petals from the flower bud is a great fine motor activity for tots and mine enjoyed it immensely. We put our AthaPoo on a round plate because our 19 month old was fascinated with the petals and kept picking the flowers off.

To avoid my 5 year old getting frustrated, I gave both of them petals and a paper plate and let them got at it in their own unique ways! Here are the gorgeous results!

Image credit – Swati Mittal

Decorating Elephants

For centuries, our deity is carried on the mighty Elelphants for processions. The prowess and beauty of the Elephant is celebrated and revered in Kerala. The elephants are decorated with gold plated Forehead ornament called Nettipatom . We love elephants ( who doesn’t?) and decided to decorate our very own Elephant Wall Hangings!

Gather your materials – Cardstock paper, Colors, decorative stickers, Glue outliner in various colors, washi tape. You could use anything.

I drew an elephant and cutout 4 from 2 sheets of card stock.

We mixed black and white to get a grey color. Aarya wanted his elephants to be grey

After the colors were dry, we did decorations, as per whatever Aarya wanted. For older kids, you could color the middle with a different color and then decorate! You could also add pom-poms (small ones) for the border, the possibilities are endless! Once your Elephants are ready, attach them to a rope with cello-tape and hang them 🙂

Onam Sadhya (Onam Feast)!

We cook a Sadhya for Onam, which has more than 23 items all vegetarian with 2 Kheers (Payasams). For this activity I chose a very simple Kheer to make with Aarya, Semiyaa Payasam.

Onam Special Payasam

Ingredients:

Semiyaa ( Rice Seviya pre roasted)
Milk – 1 ltr
Sugar 6 tbsp
Condensed Milk (optional)
Ghee
Raisins/Kaju (dry fruits)

Process

In a pan pour 1 tablespoon, Aarya poured 1 cup Semiya and warmed it up. Roasting it like this gives a nice Ghee taste.
In a thick bottomed vessel, boil the milk, once the milk comes to a boil, add the roasted Semiya with the ghee.
Add sugar and the let the Semiyaa cook.
Once cooked, add 1 tbsp of condensed milk.
Moms will roast the dry fruits and add it to the Kheer and serve it to them!

This is the most simple cooking activity any kid (supervised by parents) can do!

Boat Racing

One of the best things about Onam is all the fun celebrations that are hosted. And the best is boat racing. If you are in Kerala, it is almost the worst thing to miss the boat race at Onam time! It is AMAZZING!

This infographic from dgreetings.com sums it up pretty well ..

Onam is celebration of a Demon King who was just, and considered equal. Let us also in our little ways be just and stop judging other people. Lets share our abundances. And be happy with our lives.

From our Family to Yours, a very Happy and Blessed Onam to you! May prosperity, happiness, abundance and humility be your friends.