Courtesy of Ministry of Tourism, Government of Kerala

Visiting Kerala this week is like visiting New York during Christmas week, except for the scale. Both places have the festive atmosphere, illumination, feasting everywhere, high alcoholic consumption and crass commercialization, including a grand shopping festival. None of these have anything to do with the traditional Onam festival, but care is taken to do all these in the name of Mahabali, the legendary ruler of prehistoric times. His majestic and well-fed figure juts out of every hoarding like Santa Claus in the West.

Onam, whose festivities center around Thiru Onam, observed on Wednesday, is a combination of the Kerala new year and the harvesting festival, marking the end of torrential rain and misery associated with the previous months. But the Onam legend of Mahabali is the best excuse for the feasting and the splurging. Keralites believe that they have to appear as happy and prosperous as they were in the days of Mahabali, the benevolent king, who returns to Kerala once a year to see his subjects. This was a boon he received from the Supreme God himself, Vishnu, who sent him to the nether-world out of envy for his popularity.

As the story goes, Vishnu appears disguised as a Brahmin boy, who seeks three feet of land to do his prayers. Mahabali promises to provide that, but then Vishnu suddenly grows so large that he measures the earth with one foot, the heavens with another foot and demands that Mahabali find room for his third. Mahabali offers his own head as the third, and Vishnu pushes him down. However, Mahabali managed to negotiate a deal to visit Kerala once every year.

The fame of Mahabali made him a ruler par excellence, without any parallel in history before or after. The literature that describes his reign reads like the description of the Utopia, or the Promised Land: socialistic in concept but capitalist in terms of prosperity and plenty. Everyone was equal, no untruth or deceit, not even an iota of falsehood. No wonder the gods grew jealous as even in heaven, they did not have such a paradise.

The regime change that Vishnu brought about may have had to do with more than jealousy. It was a just regime, but there is no talk of the empowerment of women or faith in God. Some believe that these were the tragic flaws that transported Mahabali to the nether-world.

The legend of Mahabali and his kingdom may well be the primeval memory of a people, in jumbled up images of old times. But more likely, it is a vision, a dream that is difficult even to conceive of, not to speak of accomplishing. By portraying a dream as something that existed in the past, the creators of the legend gave it a touch of reality. The creation of the image of Mahabali was another master stroke to give form and content to the dream.

The Keralites do not see deception in pretending to be content on Onam day. It is a legitimate way of pleasing their ruler. The deception gives the Keralites the license to indulge in luxuries. Even the sale of immovable property is permitted to celebrate the Onam festival. The government abets the splurging by giving salary advances, which will have to be repaid in subsequent months.

Onam, in the old days, meant 10 days of feasting, flower decorations and traditional dances for women and martial arts and sports for men. Like Thanksgiving, Onam brought families together, even if it meant travel over long distances. Onam used to be very private and unostentatious, but today, Onam is a street festival, with an eye on attracting tourists. Kerala is sold as a tourist and shopping package during Onam.

Today’s Onam also revolves around Mollywood, the Malayalam movie scene, which has been exceptionally active in recent years. The supreme stars like Mammootty and Mohanlal still hold sway, and the dream of every television channel is to get them to talk about themselves on Onam day. If the networks can’t get hold of them, every other star is lined up on Onam day. Meanwhile, Keralites are waiting breathlessly to hear the health bulletins on the popular character actor Thilakan, who is struggling for his life on a ventilator during the Onam week.

Onam is not about a legend anymore. It is a contemporary festival to rejoice, to feast, to shop and to ogle at film stars. Mahabali is just an excuse for Keralites to deceive themselves that they are well. As long as remittances come from the Keralite workers in the Gulf, Onam can have all the glitter it has acquired.

For menial work in Kerala, people from West Bengal and Odisha come in large numbers. For them, Kerala is the Gulf, with jobs in plenty and good wages. The chief minister of Kerala, Oommen Chandy, had to greet the migrant workers on Onam day in Hindi this time.

In the Onam season, everything is postponed till the long holidays are over. This year, the Onam celebrations continue to Sunday, but the official holiday will close on Monday so that everyone gets an extended break. Once it emerges, bleary-eyed, from the Onam season, Kerala will return to its routine of hyper politics, high spending and Kerala model development, and Mahabali will return to his nether-world home in the belief that his subjects are happy today as they were in his times.

Mr. Sreenivasan, a former Indian diplomat, is the executive vice chairman of the Kerala State Higher Education Council. His views are personal and do not reflect the policy of his state.

