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Thursday September 07, 2006

ONAM and the mythology behind it.


Onam is the harvest festival of Kerala. However, a popular mythology goes thus.

The Asura King Mahabali, the grandson of Prahlad, ruled the land of Kerala. He was a pious and generous king and his subjects greatly loved him. During his reign, there was no cheating and theft and everybody was equal. Like his grandfather, he was also a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. Seeing his glory, the Devraj Indra became jealous and feared that he might lose his throne and approached Lord Vishnu for succor. Around the same time, the Asura guru Shukracharya compelled Mahabali to perform a yagna called Vishwajit by which he could conquer all the worlds including Devlok. As per the yagna, he declared that he would give anything that anyone sought from him during this yagna. Lord Vishnu, in the form of a Brahmin boy Vaman, utilised this opportunity to shower grace on him.
Vaman came to the Yagya-shala. As he was approaching them, the sages assembled there perceived his extraordinary effulgence form. Mahabali went forth to receive the Brahmin boy with all traditional honours and gave him an eminent seat befitting the status of a holy person. On being asked what he wanted, Vaman said he would be satisfied with only three feet of land. Mahabali offered to measure three feet of land himself as he saw Vaman was small. But Vaman insisted that he would measure it himself.
Then Vaman took his cosmic form and measured the entire Earth with one foot and the sky with the other foot. Then he asked where to place the third foot to which Mahabali immediately offered his head. Vamana placed his foot on his head and sent him to Patal Lok.
Seeing his great generosity, devotion and sense of sacrifice, Lord Vishnu was highly pleased and asked Mahabali for a boon. Mahabali asked that he be able to see his subjects once a year which was granted.

The people of Kerala celebrate this visit of King Mahabali as Onam with great pomp and fest.

Posted by Narasimhan at 2:08 AM
16 Comments

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Comments:

Good info, every Indian should know this

Soul_Man Said on 9/10/2006 3:14:57 AM


thans lionman,

Now I wont have to search the internet to tell lovita about this story.. happy :)

Vinodd Said on 9/10/2006 6:27:21 AM


What was Doodlebug's postion on 31st aufgust & what on 30th sept . As compared to other contributors , does he deserve honour of the month award ? humnri should be impartial , shoewing justice & fairness to all . Otherwise creative writers shall migrate to other fair play sites. Politics & meanness here is disgusting.

yusufc Said on 10/4/2006 8:48:30 AM


Doodle bug & Sweeties are one & same person. So is Ranbir Sinha & Atlanta girl ---spy Lamboo must expose. Humnri managers must all ow only members with real photos otherwise discussion board is ju st farce with Soulman retaining own pep-talk but deleting my / cr itical remarks. Ramzan ke dino mein Khuda jhooth na bulaye .

yusufc Said on 10/9/2006 6:11:21 AM


Ali ur nothing but nuts!

Philips Said on 10/12/2006 9:07:38 AM


Sweety, don't give up . When Soulman deleted my remarks but kept his pep-talk , I was new . But you are old and fight this old but dark hotse. Lanboo has caught Swathi's pc address as that of Soulman so it's same selfish , arrogant and window-dressing Sinha only . Let Sweety expose his hypocrisy and hijacking humnri site. Humnri belongs to al of us and not only 1 or 2 manipulators here.

yusufc Said on 10/30/2006 8:52:45 AM


No Bliss , Ravi mian says it's not so ! You misunderstood him.
Sweety , Lamboo , now you see Best author award is most subjective , authoritarian and undemocratic. Wish me best for exposing this award-scam of Humnri.


Co mputer only picks up eligible ( not a big deal --even a child c an pick up ) but Soluman can choose anyone. Sonia can make or unmake manmohan , Pranab PM !!! Absolute power corrupts absol utely.

So blindly you are giving , Aug-Sept-Oct 3 mon ths award CONTINUOUSLY to same author --will it motivate other s ? Are they not contributing ? ANDHA BAANTE REVARI , FIR FI R APNO KO DEYE ! Would anyone make Humnri democratic ? How to en courage all authors ? Visitors have big expectations from Prez Kalam - Supreme Court (Ravi - vinod mian together ) ---pleas e don't make Solu Sonia gandhi, extra-constitutional power . L et parliament board of Maya , Bliss , narsimhan etc decide Awar d of the month . I repeat absolute power has corrupted Soulman absolutely. How he deleted my remarks on Hemu's article but kep t his reply ? Why he is not feeling sorry ? Is he above law ?

yusufc Said on 11/4/2006 8:43:44 AM


apko bhi mubarak, Narsimhan mian . Others are not that broad-m inded .

For example ,many sites now encourage DIRECT p osting of articles by author . Let him/ her be responsible total ly . Middlemen ( moderators ) will be jobless and no heart-burni ng therefore. Can Humnri do it ?

When July 2006 award Soulman gave to himself , he passed the buck to computer. But now Ravi Mian has clarified that he gave it to himself. Soulman tell s a lie --only Sweety or Lamboo can catch that .If he is a gentle man , why he is NOT restoring my remarks on Hemu's article on res ervation in spite of so many requests ? Vinod and Ravi mian sho uld intervene now .

yusufc Said on 11/4/2006 11:15:51 PM


Like Afzal , now Sinha has been caught attacking Parliament so wants a graceful exit. Ravi mian wrote that computer only picks up probables and moderator give the award . So for July , Solu gave the award too himself. Cannot he understand this simple English ? And who is he to ask me to get out? Let him get out ungracefully .

Now sister Sweety is in and Lamboo also. Many sites now encourage DIRECT posting of articles by author . Let him/ her be responsible totally . Middlemen ( moderators ) will be jobless and no heart-burning therefore. Can Humnri do it ?

yusufc Said on 11/6/2006 9:05:01 AM


Narasimha, I have been advised that do not delete the earlier comments, and HumNRI team should keep a backup copy of the server with the full IP addresses of the poster, and when requested by the authorities we may have to supply it, in order to trace the exact PC, company, location and provider they came from during the investigation.
Thanks!

Soul_Man Said on 11/7/2006 4:22:59 AM


Who has allowed Soulman to post article in Forum section ? Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Vinod Mian says Soulman was rewarded for "other " services. Let man of the Match award go to batsman / bowler who actually played rather than to Coach Chappel . " Best moderator " award may be created but no snatching from mouth of authors !

yusufc Said on 11/7/2006 8:54:33 AM


Yes , Lamboo has caught Sinha red-handed ! First he lied that co mputer gave the award . But Ravi and Vinod mian as true patrons s aved him by using moderator and protective lingo .

But who will protect me the new member especialy from minority commun ity ? Old sharks are there in Humnri pond making life difficult. Bliss and Narsimhan should step in to restore balance , democracy , wisdom and impartilaity here. Many (affliated ) old members ca nnot make one wrong thing right by just saying so many things aga inst a lone independent.

yusufc Said on 11/9/2006 10:03:55 PM


In Telugu Newspaper Eenadu, there is an article that showed that in Kerala many people celebrated something called "Muslim Onam". It was great to see that many Keralites retain their rich heritage and traditions irrespective of the religion. They celebrate peaceful Indian festivals without any linkage to fanaticism that we see in several self-proclaimed "religious" people today who divide the children of God in the name of God.

Big difference between Societal good Indians and communal hate-preachers.
I am glad that the former is still the majority.

Soul_Man Said on 11/11/2006 2:57:30 AM


Sinha and doodle have run Humnri like their family business so don't know drama is here for real or just to divert attention from most serious and subtle issues I have raised as bliss also realised , though a bit late.

yusufc Said on 11/11/2006 10:03:37 AM


But what type of family it is that dominants ( Sinha-Doodle ) don't allow Hemu , Narsimhan , Bliss to survive and frown upon a newcomer like me ? Now doodle has become Lins but will it wash old sins ? I am just laughing !

yusufc Said on 11/12/2006 10:18:37 PM


Now Solu is avoiding real issue which even Bliss and Lamboo could realise . Where is Sweety , the real contributor here.

yusufc Said on 11/16/2006 9:18:50 AM