“Onam -a Festival of sacrificing the ego for the sake of the nation;”..SriSri
Onam is the harvest festival of Kerala, signifying abundance, prosperity, spirit of goodness and happiness.Traditionally, it is a cultural festival celebrated by Malayalis whose date is based on the panchangam and falls on the 22nd nakshatra Thiruvonam (Shravan) in the month Chingam of Malayalam calendar, which in Gregorian calendar overlaps with August–September.According to legends, the festival is celebrated to commemorate the homecoming of king Mahabali's spirit from underworld to Kerala
☀️Social significance
Like all other traditional festivals, the promotion of goodwill and social cohesion is the aim of celebrating Onam. It is celebrated as a secular event by people of all religious beliefs. Government and non-government organizations take this as an opportunity to foster communal harmony, peace and ecological sensitivity among the people. The most significant fact of this festival is that it is celebrated in commemoration of a glorious past when there prevailed an ideal state of prosperity and peace.
☀️Spiritual significance:
*This day is the sacred day when the Lord as Vamana Avatar conferred liberation on Emperor Bali. Bali was a great person, but he had one weakness. He suffered from a slight sense of ego. … Vamana incarnated to eradicate the undesirable quality of ego in Emperor Bali. He was arrogant because he owned all the expanse that he could see on land and was considered invincible.
Knowledge and humility help one transcend the ego which can grow as huge as this earth and sky. Just like Vamana, ego can be conquered in three simple steps.
👉Step 1: Measure the earth - Look around and be humbled by the sheer number of other living beings like you on this earth.
👉Step 2: Measure the skies – Look up into the sky and be humbled by the sheer vastness and the multitude of other worlds in the cosmos and how insignificantly small we are in this cosmos.
👉Step 3: Place your hand on your head – Realize that in the cycle of births and deaths not only of living beings but the cosmos itself, the time span of each of our lives is very small and the role we play in the larger picture of the order of the cosmos, is even smaller.
In words of Sri Sathya Sai
“Emperor Bali, who is welcomed into their hearts and home by the people of Kerala on Onam Day, had unwavering faith in God. He served his subjects as if he was commissioned by God (Narayana). He offered all he earned, all he was, and himself, most gladly, to God. He overcame the clouds of ignorance and rose to the heights of supreme wisdom. His self expanded so vastly that it merged in Divine Consciousness. Purity leads to Unity and Unity to mergence with Divinity. This is the Message that the Onam festival and the story of Bali conveys to mankind”….
*☀️Significance of the Shravan( Thiruvonam )month:
This month is called Shravan since the full moon during this month occurs against the Shravana star.
The star Shravana is the set of stars known in western astronomy as Altair, the bright star in the Aquila constellation along with Beta and Gamma Aquilae that flank it on either side.
These three stars are pictured as the three footprints of Vamana in his gigantic Trivikrama form. Are you wondering, what does the legend of Maha Bali and Vamana, have to do with the name Shravana for this star?
The word Shravana means to listen, to pay heed to. The three stars which depict the outcome of Maha Bali’s disobedience ( to his guru Shukracharya) stand as a constant reminder in the sky to caution people to listen and pay heed to good counsel.
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*an article of artofliving.org
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