Thursday, September 21, 2006
Looking Back at Onam
Apart from the voyeuristic pleasures of seeing people celebrate Onam on television screens, what is now understood as the right way of doing it, the only place where I saw a semblance of authenticity was a dalit colony in the city. A place where the so-called low caste 'Pulaya' community stays in Thiruvananthapuram. Here the people were all in jubilation, young and old. The shocking observation to this writer was that the 'Ona pookkalam' is part of faith and ritual, not a secular show of fancy interest. As the older generation told, it is nothing but the 'Siva Lingam' that is set up with clay at the centre. The flowers depict the goddess and once the Pookkalam is ready it is the abode of the god and goddess. That for ten days starting Atham. Where worship is regularly done. Till the day of Thiruvonam. Many of you may know it, I did not, and frankly the last day of discontinuing the Pookkalam was a mystical scene, the boy who did it after several days of penace reaching a state of possession. The whole community dancing in ecstacy.
There are historic accounts that tell about Thiruvonam, some scholars have done original research on this. One of them, Dr. Padmanabhan based in Kanyakumari, tells that Onam was a festival across the southern peninsula. That from Tiruppati to cape and for the wider Tamil country it was a national festival. That few centuries back when Tirupati was originally a Siva temple. Perhaps the contending Vaishnava and Saiva streams were competing at the time for space. Today Tirupati is all out Vaishnava and the Hinduism of the day is an assimilation of the two streams. But the recorded festivities of Onam across the Tamil country had elephant fights and feasts as some documents narrate. In huge arenas made of stone boulders elephants were made to fight and people watched the show like in bull fights. There are engravings of the show in ancient Madurai. Perhaps it was an ancient Saivaite festival later taken over by Vaishnavism, for Onathan is Vishnu, according to Dr. Padmanabhan.
When did the celebrations of Onam in its present form begin is best left to history, hoary past cannot be deciphered beyond a point. Now the Pulayas who were seen celebrating are also known to be related to the Nayars of Kerala. Folk history talks about their having been people judged as lower in status after refusing to accept 'Pula' or ritual pollution, when those who accepted these became Nayars. This was obviosuly at the instance of the priestly religion that came to be powerful and one does not know who benefitted and at whose cost. For physical affluence and social position alone are not the ultimate variables in life, spirituality is as important. How Jesus Christ calls the poor and under privilaged as children of god. However the Onam celebrations of the dalits were certainly better than that of the television viewers. At least there was individual participation, joy and exhilaration.
What was remarkable was that the upper castes nearby, from Nayars down, did not come out of their homes to see the gaiety, leave alone join the celebration. They were all rivetted to the TV screens inside, those who peeped out from inside the walls were afraid that the shall be polluted if they joined the show. For the people here had also arranged several exotic sports items like climbing an arecanut tree pole smeared with oil and eggs white. Those trying to climb kept on falling down as the amused crowd jeered. There were also other events like 'Tumpi thullal' and other items, with a lot of cheering accompanying. It was literally a people's celebration. Is it that these are the real Saivite people who refused to accept the priestly Vaishnavism. Who knows. Obviously it is a more vibrant faith that they have, than the one where paying the greedy priests and bowing before idols alone is called religion. Dependency on priesthood stealing any trace of self respect, also self confidence in matters of faith, they becoming blind believers. Hard options before the Hindu faithful.
It is said that they compulsorily eat non-vegetarian food on Onam day in Malabar, when it is a no no in Travancore. Obviously the land Sree Padmanabha was far more Vaishnavite than Saivite than Malabar and continued to be with the Tamil country till the British left. Historians have recorded how the goddess of the Cheras, fore-runners of the true Nayars, was 'Kottavai'. And do you know what was her favourit dish, our modern beef Biriyani. Yes, the preparation was a mix of meat of oxen with boiled rice, see books of Ilankulam Kunjan Pillai on the ancient Kerala. Why even the Vedic people were meat eaters and the Rg Veda has far too many references to this. Thus Onam as a celebration of the defeat of a noble king Mahabali is also a metamorphosed festival. As history shows the goddess Kottavai later gets amalgamated in to the modern Hindu pantheon. The Onam Pookkalam, where we now have the small 'Thrikkakkara Appan' at the centre may be the left over from a past. A past where every one could do pooja, what eventually became a privilage of the caste Brahmins. Time the other Hindus asserted their rights, dumped the concocted fictions that go as sastram.
There are historic accounts that tell about Thiruvonam, some scholars have done original research on this. One of them, Dr. Padmanabhan based in Kanyakumari, tells that Onam was a festival across the southern peninsula. That from Tiruppati to cape and for the wider Tamil country it was a national festival. That few centuries back when Tirupati was originally a Siva temple. Perhaps the contending Vaishnava and Saiva streams were competing at the time for space. Today Tirupati is all out Vaishnava and the Hinduism of the day is an assimilation of the two streams. But the recorded festivities of Onam across the Tamil country had elephant fights and feasts as some documents narrate. In huge arenas made of stone boulders elephants were made to fight and people watched the show like in bull fights. There are engravings of the show in ancient Madurai. Perhaps it was an ancient Saivaite festival later taken over by Vaishnavism, for Onathan is Vishnu, according to Dr. Padmanabhan.
When did the celebrations of Onam in its present form begin is best left to history, hoary past cannot be deciphered beyond a point. Now the Pulayas who were seen celebrating are also known to be related to the Nayars of Kerala. Folk history talks about their having been people judged as lower in status after refusing to accept 'Pula' or ritual pollution, when those who accepted these became Nayars. This was obviosuly at the instance of the priestly religion that came to be powerful and one does not know who benefitted and at whose cost. For physical affluence and social position alone are not the ultimate variables in life, spirituality is as important. How Jesus Christ calls the poor and under privilaged as children of god. However the Onam celebrations of the dalits were certainly better than that of the television viewers. At least there was individual participation, joy and exhilaration.
What was remarkable was that the upper castes nearby, from Nayars down, did not come out of their homes to see the gaiety, leave alone join the celebration. They were all rivetted to the TV screens inside, those who peeped out from inside the walls were afraid that the shall be polluted if they joined the show. For the people here had also arranged several exotic sports items like climbing an arecanut tree pole smeared with oil and eggs white. Those trying to climb kept on falling down as the amused crowd jeered. There were also other events like 'Tumpi thullal' and other items, with a lot of cheering accompanying. It was literally a people's celebration. Is it that these are the real Saivite people who refused to accept the priestly Vaishnavism. Who knows. Obviously it is a more vibrant faith that they have, than the one where paying the greedy priests and bowing before idols alone is called religion. Dependency on priesthood stealing any trace of self respect, also self confidence in matters of faith, they becoming blind believers. Hard options before the Hindu faithful.
It is said that they compulsorily eat non-vegetarian food on Onam day in Malabar, when it is a no no in Travancore. Obviously the land Sree Padmanabha was far more Vaishnavite than Saivite than Malabar and continued to be with the Tamil country till the British left. Historians have recorded how the goddess of the Cheras, fore-runners of the true Nayars, was 'Kottavai'. And do you know what was her favourit dish, our modern beef Biriyani. Yes, the preparation was a mix of meat of oxen with boiled rice, see books of Ilankulam Kunjan Pillai on the ancient Kerala. Why even the Vedic people were meat eaters and the Rg Veda has far too many references to this. Thus Onam as a celebration of the defeat of a noble king Mahabali is also a metamorphosed festival. As history shows the goddess Kottavai later gets amalgamated in to the modern Hindu pantheon. The Onam Pookkalam, where we now have the small 'Thrikkakkara Appan' at the centre may be the left over from a past. A past where every one could do pooja, what eventually became a privilage of the caste Brahmins. Time the other Hindus asserted their rights, dumped the concocted fictions that go as sastram.
