Kerala Snake Boats

Kerala is famous for its snake boat races. These snake boats are about 100 feet long and can seat 150 men. Strong mature wood like teak, etc are used to build these boats. The boats get their name from the curled ends of the boat which are shaped to represent cobra hoods. Skilled craftsmen spend months making a boat and decorating it. The boat is treated with religious reverence and footwear is not allowed aboard. The boats belong to affluent families or it may represent an entire village. The boats are decorated with silk umbrella, ornaments and tassels. The men dress in white dhotis and turbans. Traditional songs called ‘vanchipattu’ provide rhythm to the oarsmen. Of the 150 people aboard the board, four are helmsmen, 25 are singers and 121 are oarsmen. The snake boat race is an amazing depiction of team spirit as a single mistake from any one of them can easily overturn the boat.

Onam Snake Boat Races: The snake boat race that accompanies the Onam festival of Kerala is a sight that is unique and enchanting. It is a major tourist attraction that draws both domestic and international tourists. The legend behind this famous race is that the head of a renowned Brahmin family was offering his daily prayers and as part of the ritual he offered meals to poor people. On that particular day, he founded a beggar boy standing beside him. The Brahmin gave the boy a bath, new set of clothes and a good meal. The boy vanished after the meal and the Brahmin believed that he was a representation of God himself. To mark the day, he started a tradition of bringing food every year to the Aranmulla temple where he thought he spotted the boy again. His entourage was accompanied down the river by snake boats for protection from river pirates. As time progressed, the tradition gained popularity and more snake boats joined in leading to competition between the boats. Today, the fifth day of the Onam festival celebrations is marked by the Great Snake Boat Race of Aranmula or the Aranmula vallamkali. 

The Legend of Onam

Onam is an ancient festival which is still celebrated with great pomp and grandeur in the heritage rich state of Kerala, India. It is a harvest festival that celebrates King Mahabali’s annual visit to his beloved kingdom.

According to the legend, the height of Kerala’s prosperity was under King Mahabali’s reign. He was so successful and revered by his people that devas or gods became jealous of him. At their request, Lord Vishnu assumed the form of a dwarf named Vamana who visited the great King and requested three steps of land for himself to live in. against the warning of his religious advisor guru Sukracharya, the generous king promised him the three steps of land. Vamana enlarged himself to such dimensions that he towered over the three worlds of heaven, earth and hell and covered all three with just two steps. To fulfil his promise, the King offered his own head to place the third step and was thus pushed down to the underworld. Vishnu granted him the sovereignty of the underworld and allowed the King to visit his kingdom and its people once a year. This day is celebrated as Thiruvonam in Kerala to welcome the King Mahabali.

Traditional Onam Rituals

• Of all the traditions, the Ona- pooklam, which are the designer flower carpets and Ona-sadya, the great Onam feast with 13 essential dishes are the most famous and religiously followed functions.
• Athachamayam is the grand procession that marks the beginning of Onam and is a majestic procession of pomp and splendor having decorated elephants, folk presentation, dance and music.
• Kaikotti Kali is specific dance form played out by women dressed in traditional wear.
• Thumbi thullal is a folk dance performed by the women.
• Pulikkali is an amusing dance played by the men dressed up as leopards colored in yellow with black spots all over their body.
• Uthradathi Vallamkali is a snake boat race organized with much fervor and zeal; it is extremely competitive.
• Onakodi are new clothes gifted among loved ones to celebrate onam.
• Onam is the only time of the year when most keralites are decked out in traditional Kerala wear.
• Onam –payasams are delicious desserts prepared for these occasions. 

Ten days of Onam Celebrations

Onam celebrations run for ten days starting with the day of ‘Attam Nakshatram’in the month of chingam which comes between august and September on the English calendar. Traditionally breakfast for all ten days consist of steamed bananas and fried pappads. Swings decked with flowers are hung from high tree branches for children to play on. The flower bed or the traditional atha-pookalam is started on this day. More circular rows of flowers are added on the following days of onam. Particular flowers are selected on each day for specific deities. ‘attachamayam’ is the grand procession that marks the beginning of onam. This is in remembrance of the former royal processions and is carried out in full majestic pomp with decorated elephants, folk art presentations, music and dance. Snake boat races are held on the fifth day. Thiruvonam is the most important and the final tenth day on which the legendary king of Kerala is believed to visit his beloved kingdom and the elaborate onam feasts called ona-sadya are served on banana leaves.

Onam, the Great Harvest Festival of Kerala

Onam is the state festival of Kerala. It is harvest festival that is celebrated in the Malayalam month of Chingam which is between August and September in the English calendar. The story behind Onam is that Mahabali, the legendary King of Kerala visits his beloved kingdom every year on the day of Onam. The kingdom prepares to receive him in all its grandeur. Flower bed called ‘pookalams’ are prepared in every house.’ Ona-sadya’ is the great feast that is prepared for this day.  Families gift each other ‘ona-kodi which are new dresses in Kerala traditional style. The celebrations take ten days and there are rituals specific to each day.

Ona Sadya: The Great Kerala Onam Feast

The Ona-sadya is prepared and relished on the day of Thiruvonam, the most important day of Onam. This elaborate and grand feast is a nine course meal. The grandeur of the feast is symbolic of the prosperity that the subjects of the Kingdom enjoyed under the rule of the legendary King Mahabali. This sadya or feast is served on tender banana leaves and people sit on a mat laid on the floor and eat this meal using their hands. It is a purely vegetarian meal.  Rice forms the base of the meal with side dishes consisting of various gravies, fried chips, pappads, pickles, chutneys and payasams. In ancient times there was said to be 64 dishes and these were served on three banana leaves layered one over the other. How one person can actually eat so much in one sitting is definitely food for thought.

Around 25 dishes are served in a standard sadya. Earlier, people would indulge in lavish Onam feasts, but of late, the number of dishes on the banana leaf, has come down. At informal, small sadyas, 13 essential dishes are served with two payasams are served for dessert, instead of four.

A sadya is usually served for lunch as it is a very heavy meal. Preparations begin the night before and the entire meal is prepared and ready by ten in the morning of the feast day. In the villages, it is a social occasion where neighbors pitch in to help with the chopping of vegetables and grating coconuts. They also volunteer to serve the food to the guests.

This scrumptious vegetarian spread consists of a spectrum of dishes that are meant to tickle your taste buds – salty, spicy, sour and sweet. Rice is the main dish. It is served with various preparations of vegetables collectively called ‘kootan’. Minimum three varieties of desserts called payasams are served at the end of the meal. Coconut forms the base of almost all dishes: it is used in various forms like coconut paste, grated coconut, coconut bits, coconut milk and coconut oil. Kerala is after all the ‘Land of Coconuts.’ Traditionally onion and garlic are not used in these food preparations. 

There is a specific order for serving the dishes on a banana leaf. From left to right, the order is as follows: Banana chips, Banana sarkaravaratti, Mango Pickle, Lime Pickle, Injicurry, Olan, Kichadi, Thoran, Aviyal, Kootucurry, Pachadi and Kalan. The fresh ripe plantain is placed on the bottom left corner. This order of placement helps the serving waiters to identify and offer additional servings. All the curries are served first and then rice is added.

There is a method and order in eating the dishes too. You are supposed to begin with the chips, followed by the tangy sweet and injipuli chutney. This is said to open up the taste buds and prepare you for the feast. Then rice is eaten with parippu curry and ghee along with crispy pappadam. This helps in speeding up the digestion. Various other gravies for the rice, like sambar, pullissery, rasam, etc are served one by one. Rice and other kootans on the banana leaf are replenished as needed, by the serving staff. Thereafter, two kinds of payasams or pradhamans are served. Unlike in other cuisines, the sweet is eaten in the middle of the Sadhya meal and not in the end. Finally, the rice is served again with spiced buttermilk. The Sadhya is then finished off with a ripe plantain.

Tradition dictates that the meal should be followed by vettila murukkan. Betel leaf with lime and arecanut is believed to aid the digestion of the meal.

Classic Onam Dishes:

1. Banana chips
2. Banana sarkaravaratti
3. Pappadam
4. Mango Pickle
5. Lime Pickle
6. Injicurry
7. Olan
8. Kichadi
9. Cabbage Thoran
10. Beans Thoran
11. Aviyal
12. Kootucurry
13. Pachadi
14. Kalan
15. Errissery
16. Pullissery
17. Mulakushyam
18. Parippu curry
19. Ghee
20. Sambar
21. Rasam
22. Moru Kachiyathu
23. Vellamoru
24. Palada prathaman
25. Parippu prathaman
26. Pazha prathaman
27. Gothambu prathaman
28. Semiya payasam 

Welcome to Kerala: God's Own Country

It’s as close to heaven as you can get on earth, a land so blessed that it surely carries the footprints of God on its sandy palm fringed beaches. His handiwork so obvious in the land so generously bestowed with the bounties of nature. Pristine backwaters, tranquil villages, misty mountains and greenery in profusion promises to hold you spellbound in this Promised Land.

A much sought-after destination for tourists in India and abroad, Kerala is named as one of the ‘Ten Paradises of the World’ and ‘Fifty Places of a Lifetime’ by the National Geographic Traveler Magazine. Travel and Leisure names Kerala as "One of the 100 great trips for the 21st century".

Keralam, the land of kera or coconut, is a never-ending array of coconut palms…positioned between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats, beaches, waterfalls, rice paddies and verdant green hills create a postcard-perfect landscape. Backwater cruises in Houseboats called kettuvallam over enchanting backwaters...magical monsoon showers…silent valleys vibrant with flora and fauna …fragrance of spices…evenings reverberating with the rhythm of a thousand art forms...fairs and festivals...  Welcome to the exotic flavors of Kerala.

This blog contains many mouth watering recipes from Kerala cuisine, the food of the Gods. 'Onasadhya' is the grand feast served during the celebration of Onam in Kerala. The typical Kerala Hindu feast served on a banana leaf, is a sumptuous spread of rice and more than 14 vegetable dishes, topped with payasam or pradhamans. The Muslim and Christian community  excel in their own particular range of dishes from the 'pathiri and, biriyani, to the vellappam and stew. Read on and visit often to learn the secret traditional recipes and much more...

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