Fairs & Festivals in Kerala

The colorful mosaic of Kerala festivals and fairs is as diverse as the land, is an expression of the spirit of celebration, that is an essential part of the State. Observed with enthusiasm and gaiety, festivals are like gems, ornamenting the crown of Kerala tradition and culture. Round the year the fests keep Kerala life vibrant and interludes in the mundane affairs of life.

Every season turns up new festivals, each a true celebration of the bounties of nature. The festivals exhibits an eternal harmony of spirit. Packed with fun and excitement, festivals are occasions to clean and decorate houses, to get together with friends and relatives and to exchange gifts. New attire, dance, music and ritual, all add to their joyful rhythm. It is a time for prayer, for pageantry and processions.....a time to rejoice. The important fairs and festivals in the state are:


Onam - The National Festival of Kerala
Kerala's most important festival, honouring King Mahabali, a mythological king of ancient Kerala, whose period was reckoned as the golden age in the history of the state. He was the embodiment of virtues, goodness, so was his regime which was marked by equality and harmony among people. The golden age was abruptly ended when Mahabali was unseated by Vamana, the dwarf incarnation of Vishnu. However, Vamana was lenient to accede Mahabali's request that he be permitted to visit the land and his people once a year.

The time allowed for the visit was the 10th day in the month of Chingam, ( first Malayalam month, August-September). His visit is celebrated as Onam which sync with the harvest season in Kerala. The 10-days festival is supposed to begin from the lunar asterism Atham and culminate in asterism Thiruvonam. Onam is marked by festivity. Keralites bash up the day. Flower carpet is being prepared in the front yard of every house.

Special prayers are offered in temples. Delicious dinner is the USP of Onam celebration. Traditional food is served on plantain leaves. An emotional string is attached to this festival since Keralites living elsewhere in the world make it a point to reach their native place to join the gala. The State Tourism Department has arranged several programmes to tap the tourism potential of the season. A snake boat race is organized in Alappuzha Punnamada lake. State's ethnic art forms are being presented in all important towns in the state during the festival.


Thrissur Pooram
The most spectacular spectacle in the state. This festival was introduced by Sakthan Thampuran, the Maharaja of erstwhile Kochi state. Celebrated in Medom (April-May) the festival parades the fulgent faces of Kerala culture. With every passing year Tthrissur Pooram, the temple festival, attracts large masses of devotees and spectators. Of the groups displaying their artistic prowess in the Pooram, the prominent are Paramekkavu and Thiruvambadi.

When Paremekkavu and Thiruvambadi vie each other for their best performance, the connoisseurs of festivals are blessed with the rare chance to enjoy Kerala's art and culture. These temples organise impressive, awe inspiring processions starting from Krishna temple and Devi temple. On the day before the closing of the pooram the groups enter the Vadakumnatha temple through the western gate and come out through the southern gate to parade themselves, face to face.

The hours-long dazzling fire works submerge the Thrissur city in an ocean of colour. The consummate pyrotechnics exhibited by the two temple groups paint the Thrissur sky with flamboyant pictures. What unfurls in the dark sky will be a rich tapestry. The marvelous as well as magical effect of the Panchavadyam, a combination of five percussion and wind instruments, is to be felt and enjoyed.

Although this grand festival is known as Thrissur Pooram, it is in fact the conclusion of the eight day Utsavam of nine temples. The commissioning of elephants and parasols is done in the utmost secrecy by each party to excel the other. Commencing in the early hours of the morning, the celebrations last till the break of dawn, the next day.


Aranmula Uthrittathi
Jalolsavams evoke the waves of enthusiasm in the minds of Southern Keralites. its history is flirting with, paddling with river gods. Down the years the boat race has accrued sporting value and tourism importance. For ages, Keralites have cherished a reverential attitude to rivers. It is the apt time for Keralites to hold the Jalotsavam (water-carnivals). Boat race is in a way a display of physical might of the people who forget their differences in partaking of this sport.

The famous snake boat carnival on the Pampa, held annually at Aranmula on the day of Uthrittathi asterism, in connection with the Onam festival is to commemorate the crossing of the river by Lord Krishna on that day. The deity is supposed to be in all the boats that take part in the carnival and all of them are expected to arrive a t their destination simultaneously.

There is thus no element of competition in the Aranmula Boat Race as in other regattas held in this district and elsewhere. The race is not conducted to win any trophy or prize. The crew regards the occasion as one for rejoicing and merry-making and cheerfully row up and down the river to the tune of songs.

The people of Central Travancore and special boats and buses ply to carry the people to witness the event. During the races, the banks of the river on either side, for a distance of about three kilometers, would be thronged with millions. In recent years, the festival attracts spectators from all parts of the world. The Valla Sadya is an important vazhipadu (offering) in the temple on this occasion.

The snake boats at the Aranmula regatta present an enchanting as well as imposing spectacle. They are of extraordinary shape. About 100 ft. long, the end of the boat is curving upwards with the front portion tapering gradually. The rear portion would be towering to a height of about 20 feet. The boats resemble snakes with their hoods raised. Crews of over hundred men vying to win the coveted trophy, attract spectators from all over.

The occupants carry banners and ornamental umbrellas of silk and gold. It is doubtful whether there is any other national festival resplendent with such an aura of spiritual devotion, endearing friendship, sportsman spirit, majesty and rapturous delight as the Aranmula boat race. Similar Snake-boat races are organized at Champakkulam and Paippadu in Kuttanad, the rice bowl of Kerala, during the Onam days.


Chittur Konganpada
Kerala, once a land of small kingdoms, had witnessed several pitched battles. Few in the state commemorate the war victories of their forefathers. However, people of Chittor in Palakkad district had assimilated a story of triumph into their cultural veins and in every February (on first Monday after the dark lunar in Kumbam, Malayalam calendar) they remember a war they had fought and won; Konganpada, the only war festival in the state.

The history of this festival is interwoven with myths. Konganpada recollects a war the Chittor Nairs fought against King Rajadhi Raja of Kong dynast from Coimbathore in which the former won. Chittorians believe that Goddess Bhagavathy saved them from the Chola King.

According to historical version Kings of Kongu attacked Palakkad and the King of Kochin with the help of Zamorins defeated them. and Konganpada is being celebrated to keep alive that great victory. The festival begins with chilambu; recalling Konganpada’s declaration of the war and a perturbed Chittor people thronging the Goddess Bhagavathy pleading to save them from the ordeal. Next morning a flag is hoisted indicating their readiness for the war.

When dusk falls, people gather near the temple premise ands after three popgun shots march to a place supposed to be the battleground. Oracle leads the procession while others hold torches. At midnight the procession returns from the battleground. Next morning procession resumes from a nearby kavu, this time with colour and festivity.

Girls are being paraded in men’s wear (kolam) on the ground that the Goddess encountered the Konganpada in man’s robs. Cultural programmes are also staged in the pageant. In the evening the procession encircles the temple and a messenger from Konganpada reads scroll declaring the war. About 10pm Kongan appears and the symbolic war begins. Rival groups run the horses to and fro to recreate a battlefield- like situation.

After this Kongan team retreats. A few persons feign death whose bodies are being taken back to their wailing relatives. Later the festival ends with an hour-long percussion. This may be one of the bizarre festivals in the state.










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