Kerala: Onam is the official state festival of Kerala. It is celebrated with joy and enthusiasm all over the state by Malayalees regardless of religion, caste, or creed. According to a popular legend, the festival is celebrated to welcome King Mahabali, whose spirit is said to visit Kerala at the time of Onam.
Mr. P. Vijayan IPS Inspector General of Police ADMN while giving a message on Onam said, in the history of the celebration of Onam we are going through a particular situation which is a dangerous situation through which we are celebrating Onam. The greatest specialty of Onam is having the Onam feast, traveling on boats, conducting boat race competitions, visiting relatives and friends, these are the days of enjoyment and celebration but even while we are spending the days in enjoyment and celebration we have to self- adhere to certain norms.
When we are going to shops, the COVID protocol, which means maintaining social distance, wearing a mask, washing hands at regular intervals, taking caution in avoiding spitting in public areas, and avoiding coughing in public areas. In this way, we have to take the complete necessary safety precautions because we have to understand that our enemy which is invisible, the novel Coronavirus, no one knows where it is and it is better to think that the Coronavirus is everywhere and that will be the right thing to do and to prevent the virus from entering our body the only option we have is to close all the openings that are there in the body through which the virus could pass.
If all the necessary precautions are taken then we can celebrate the Onam festival safely without being attacked by the Coronavirus. Previously the Onam feasts were given at offices and at public places and now we have to take an initiative to celebrate the Onam festival at home and also if you have thought of getting things from outside, it is better to take an effort to make all the necessary things available at home. We also have to make an effort to use only the leaves and vegetables that have been grown in the compound of our house to make the dishes and curries.
The Flowers if you are getting from other places, as it is a habit that we have cultivated in the recent past so let us go back to our old ways by using the flowers that are available in the compound of our house such as Thumba flower Chembarathi flower etc. This will give a great deal of happiness. In this way, we are filled with pleasant things and because of the situation and a compulsion let us go back to our old Onam celebration.
It is an important thing to think that at Mahabali’s time, a time when there were no false versions, and only Truth and Charity stood firm and it was a world in which everybody was living happily. It is to be taken into consideration that during the reign of King Mahabali it is not only because of the effort of the King Mahabali but the people also were having a good heart. To go back to a good heart this pandemic may help us. Let us all make an effort to have the good heart and celebrate this Onam. I wish everyone a pleasant and happy Onam.
