Onam is the harvest festival of Kerala. All harvest festivals are conceptualised through a specific historical angle. Sir James Frazer in his anthropological classic ‘The Golden Bough’ points out that all harvest festivities have a unity of theme, although they are culturally different. There is a land devastated by famine, because the king is physically impotent and mentally tortured. If the land has to turn fertile, the king will have to be sacrificed at the altar of the deity. All harvest festivals from Europe to Egypt tell the tale of colourful festivities with the painful wail of sacrificed kings echoing in the background.
Onam does not completely fit into this frame. When Mahabali ruled Kerala, there was prosperity all around. It’s interesting for an anthropologist to imagine a time when a king ruled his kingdom without even a prison. However Mahabali had to undergo virtual regicide. The same qualities which made him a generous figure caused his ‘downfall’. There was a cosmic conspiracy to dethrone him. When gods conspire with one another to achieve something, they will definitely achieve it. So Kerala’s harvest festival is built on the theme of regicide. A king vanished into Hades not to save his kingdom, but to save his reputation as a generous king.
When some of our educational institutions are getting shorn of values and common good, a great legendary figure like Mahabali has to teach us mainly two lessons in order to prepare us to live in a competitive and consumerist society:
1, Saving oneself is better than being generous
2, Don’t trust anyone, even if he/ she is your god.
***
Onam celebrations begin from early morning. People come out to cull flowers for the beautiful floral patterns in the courtyard which, as hours go by, witness the musical performance Tiruvathira. Onathappan, a clay figure representing Mahabali, will enjoy the festivities and make the single day granted by gods to come and live with his subjects meaningful. This is followed by a sumptuous meal and a get-together of relatives and friends.
Telling tales of a nostalgic Onam celebration is only time consuming. In a nuclear family, courtyards are fast disappearing. So is the habit of gardening. If such a family has to celebrate Onam, there is an option
You can beautify the patch of earth in front of your flat with plastic flowers- if they satisfy the Corporation’s criterion of micron level. If your personal computer does not allow you to stand up for a while to engage in celebrations, you can youtube a Tiruvathira and after viewing it have an outing to a five star hotel. The chefs there will make you believe that they are far better than your ‘busy’ dad and mum in making an Onasadya. Anyway we are living in a world of make-believe.
***
The land has deteriorated. Even the statistical department can’t calculate the growing numbers of the poor. The farmers whose green produce enlivened your grandparents’ Onam celebrations have committed suicide. Our kings are answering the famine with mainly two solutions: Power cut and press meet.
It’s high time we thought of democratic regicide.
******Published in ' The Indian Express on August 3, 2008.
No comments:
Post a Comment