Kerala Festivals

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Kerala Festivals

Onam



Onam is a Hindu festival celebrated by the people of Kerala. Onam is Malayali festival which is celebrated by native speakers of Malayalam. Onam day is decided based on Solar Calendar. Onam is celebrated in Chingam month on Malayalam Solar Calendar. Chingam month is known as Simha month in other solar calendars and Avani month in Tamil Calendar. The day when Nakshatra Thiruvonam prevails in month of Chingam is considered for Onam celebrations. Thiruvonam Nakshatra is known as Shravana in other Hindu Calendars.

The festival commemorates the appearance of Vamana avatar of Vishnu and the subsequent home coming of the legendary Emperor Mahabali. Onam celebrates the Asura King Mahabali's annual visit from Patala (the underworld). On Thiruvonam day, Asura King Mahabali is believed to visit every Malayali home and meet his people.

The celebrations of Onam start on Atham day (the day when Atham Nakshatra prevails) and continue for 10 days till Thiruvonam day. Atham Nakshatra is known as Hasta Nakshatra in other Hindu Calendars.

6^thSeptember 2014 (Saturday)

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Vishu

15^thApril 2014 (Tuesday)





Mesha Sankranthi is celebrated as Vishu in the Indian state of Kerala. Vishu is not traditionally celebrated as New Year in the Malayalam Calendar. In the Malayalam Calendar, the New Year starts on the first day of Chingam. However people in the Malabar area consider Vishu as the astrological New Year.

Vishu is celebrated with much fanfare and vigour in all parts of Kerala. The most important event in Vishu is the Vishukkani. Vishukkani means sighting the most auspicious thing at dawn on the Vishu day for being lucky throughout the year.

Another famous ritual on Vishu is the Vishukkaineetam. Vishukkaineetam means gifting money to children, servants and tenants by elders of the family.

Vishu is also a day of feasting. The foods consist of equal proportions of salty, sweet, sour and bitter items. Feast items include Veppampoorasam (a bitter preparation of neem) and Mampazhapachadi (a sour mango soup).

In some regions Vishu is also known as Malayalam New Year.

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Ashtami Rohini



Most people in India celebrate Krishna Janmashtami based on Lunar Calendar but few temples and some regions in South India observe Krishna Janmashtami based on Solar Calendar. In most years these dates don’t differ by one or two days but in some years Janmashtami date based on Lunar Calendar and Janmashtami date based on Solar Calendar might differ up to one month.

In Kerala, Tamil Nadu and in some parts of Karnataka, Krishna Janmashtami is popularly known as Ashtami Rohini and is observed based on Solar Calendar.

Two famous temples, Udupi Sri Krishna temple in Karnataka and Guruvayur Guruvayurappa temple in Kerala celebrate Krishna Janmashtami as Ashtami Rohini based on Solar Calendar.

Ashtami Rohini is also known as Sri Jayanthi and Gokulashtami.

15^thSeptember 2014 (Monday)

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Mandala Pooja



Mandala Pooja at Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple is observed on 11^th or 12^th day during Dhanu Masam.

Mandala Pooja is the last day of 41 days long austerity observed by devotees of Lord Ayyappa. The fasting begins 41 days before Mandala Puja i.e. on the first day of Vrishchikam Masam according to Malayalam Calendar.

Mandala Puja and Makar Vilakku are the two most famous events at Sabarimala Ayyappa temple when the temple is kept open for devotees for most of the days.

27^thDecember 2014 (Saturday)

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Vinayaka Chaturthi

In Kerala, Ganesh Chaturthi is more popularly known as Vinayaka Chaturthi and it is celebrated during Shukla Paksha Chaturthi in Chingam Masam. In Malayalam Calendar Chingam is the first month of the year and coincides with Simha Solar month in other calendars.

In other states, Ganesh Chaturthi is observed during Bhadrapada month based on lunar calendar. As Malayalam calendar follows different rule to observe Vinayaka Chaturthi, it might fall one month before Ganesh Chaturthi observed in other states. However it happens rarely. Few years in which Vinayaka Chaturthi is observed one month before Ganesh Chaturthi are 2004, 2012

29^thAugust 2014(Friday)

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Vidyarambham Ceremony



On the next day of Saraswati Puja children between the age of 4 and 5 go through Vidyarambham ceremony.

4^thOctober 2014 (Saturday)