Thiruvonam is the tenth and chief day of Onam, the festival of Kerala, kept by Malayalis of every faith. It falls when the star Thiruvonam rules the day in Chingam. The family bathes, puts on new clothes, lays the flower carpet, and sits down on the floor to the Onasadya: more than twenty dishes on a banana leaf, ending with payasam. In the afternoon come the games.
The story
Mahabali, an asura, ruled Kerala so justly that there was no theft, no lie and no hunger, and the gods grew uneasy. Vishnu came to him as the dwarf Vamana and asked for three paces of land. Granted them, he grew until one step covered the earth and the next the sky; for the third, Mahabali offered his own head and was pressed down into the netherworld. His one request was to visit his people once a year.
Onam is that visit. Everything is done so that the king, looking in, will see his people as happy and as equal as they were when he ruled.
മാവേലി നാടു വാണീടും കാലം, മാനുഷരെല്ലാരുമൊന്നുപോലെ
When Maveli ruled the land, all people were as one
The Onam song
How the day goes
- OnakkodiNew clothes, given by the head of the family to everyone in it.
- PookkalamThe tenth day's flower carpet.
- OnasadyaRice with parippu and ghee, sambar, avial, olan, kalan, thoran, erissery, pachadi, inji curry, banana chips, pappadam and two or three payasams.
- OnakkalikalGames: the tug of war, the swing, ball games, and Thiruvathirakali, the women's dance in a ring.
- PulikaliIn Thrissur, on the fourth day, men painted as tigers dance through the streets.
- VallamkaliThe snake-boat races on the backwaters.
Why this date
Thiruvonam is the day in the solar month of Chingam on which the star Thiruvonam (Shravana) is present at sunrise.
Thiruvonam in other years
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Wednesday | |
| 2027 | Sunday | |
| 2028 | Friday | |
| 2029 | Wednesday | |
| 2030 | Monday | |
| 2031 | Saturday |
More Kerala festivals
11 SeptemberUthradomഉത്രാടം
18 AugustChingam 1ചിങ്ങം ഒന്ന്
24 AugustAshtami Rohiniഅഷ്ടമിരോഹിണി
7 OctoberDurgashtamiദുർഗ്ഗാഷ്ടമി
4 SeptemberVinayaka Chathurthiവിനായക ചതുർത്ഥി
9 OctoberMahanavamiമഹാനവമി
Where to see Thiruvonam
In Kerala
- Thrikkakara TempleKeralaThe temple of Vamana, at the spot where Mahabali is said to have been pushed down.
- AranmulaKeralaThe Uthrattathi boat race on the Pampa, a few days after Onam, with snake boats that belong to the temple.
- ThrissurKeralaPulikali: hundreds of painted tigers on the Swaraj Round.
- ThiruvananthapuramKeralaThe state's Onam week, with illuminations and a closing pageant.
Across India
- KanyakumariTamil NaduThe district beyond the border, once part of Travancore, keeps Onam as its own.
- MangaluruKarnatakaThe Tulu country keeps Mahabali's visit at Deepavali instead.
- TirumalaAndhra PradeshShravana is the birth star of Venkateswara.