[edit] Onam
Main article: Onam
Onam has two specific significance. First it is the communal memory and celebration of past history as ennunciated in the Mahabali Legend. A story of how paradise was lost. Second it is the celebration of the harvest tied with the memory of the golden age of prosperity. It is believed that during those days the whole of Chingam was celebrated as Onam season. After the rain drenched month of Karkidakam with its privations, Chingam is a welcome month for people in the state of Kerala. The festival is the harbinger of spring — signalling the start of the harvest season. Onam epitomizes the newfound vigour and enthusiasm of the season, and is celebrated with traditional fervour with visit to temples, family get-togethers, gifting each other clothes called Onakkodi and lots of merry making. Thiruvathira is in the malayalam month Dhanu (Dec-Jan). it is considering as the bithday of Lord Shiva.
[edit] Vishu
Main article: Vishu
Vishu is a festival celebrated by Malayalis around the first day in the Malayalam month of Medam (April – May). This occasion signifies the Sun's transit to the zodiac Mesha (Mesha Raasi) as per Indian astrological calculations. Vishu is also considered as the Malayalam New Year day and thus the importance of this day to all Malayalis regardless of their religion or sect. Similarly the day is celebrated in almost all places in India by the Hindus albeit by different names. In Assam this day is called Bihu, in Punjab Baisakhi and in Tamil Nadu Puthandu. The word "Vishu" in Sanskrit means "equal". Therefore Vishu is more probably denoting one of the equinox days.
The festival is marked with offerings to the divine called Vishukkani. The offerings consist of a ritual arrangement in the puja room of auspicious articles like raw rice, fresh linen, golden cucumber, betel leaves, arecanut, metal mirror, the yellow flowers konna (Cassia fistula), and a holy text and coins, in a bell metal vessel called uruli. A lighted bell metal lamp called nilavilakku is also placed alongside. This arrangement is completed the previous night. On the day of Vishu, the custom is to wake up at dawn and go to the puja room with the eyes closed so that the Vishukkani is the first thing one sees. Since the occasion marks the beginning of Malayalam New Year, it is also considered auspicious to read verses from Hindu Holy book Ramayanam after seeing the Vishukkani. It is also believed by some that the page of the Ramayanam to which you open up will have a bearing on your life in the coming year. Devotees also throng the well-known temples like Sabarimala Ayyappan Teample, Guruvayur Sree Krishna temple to have a "Vishukkani Kazhcha" on the early hours of "Vishu" day.
[edit] Cuisine
Main article: Cuisine of Kerala
The cuisine of Malayalis are linked in all its richness to the history, geography and culture of the land. Most of the dishes prepared using meat are spicy. The food habits in Travancore and Malabar (southern and northern Kerala) are quite different from each other. Kerala is known for its traditional sadhyas, a vegetarian meal served with boiled rice and a host of side-dishes. The sadhya is complemented by payasam, a sweet milk dessert native to Kerala. The sadhya is, as per custom, served on a banana leaf. Traditional dishes include sambar, aviyal, kaalan, theeyal, thoran, injipully, pulisherry, appam, kappa (tapioca), puttu (steamed rice powder), and puzhukku. Coconut is an essential ingredient in most of the food items and is liberally used.Puttu is a culinary specialty in Kerala. It is a steamed rice cake which is a favourite breakfast of most Malayalis. It is served with either brown chickpeas cooked in a spicy gravy, papadams and boiled small green lentils, or tiny ripe yellow Kerala plantains. In the highlands there is also a variety of puttu served with paani (the boiled-down syrup from sweet palm toddy) and sweet boiled bananas. to steam the puttu, there is a special utensil called "Puttu Kutti". It consists of two sections. The lower bulkier portion is where the water for steaming is stored. The upper detachable leaner portion which is separated from lower portion with peforated lids so as to allow the steam to pass through and bake the rice powder which has been filled. The upper portion of the leaner section is covered with a peforated cup shaped lid once it is filled with rice powder.
Appam is a pancake made of fermented batter. The batter is made of rice flour and fermented using either yeast or toddy, the local spirit. It is fried using a special frying pan called appa-chatti and is served with egg curry, chicken curry, mutton stew, vegetable curry and chick pea curry.
Tapioca and kerala banana is a speciallty.
[edit] Martial arts
See also: Kalaripayattu
Malayalis have their own lethal form of martial arts called Kalaripayattu. This type of martial arts was used as defensive mechanism against intruders . In ancient times, disputes between (naaduvazhis or Vazhunors)nobles were also settled by the outcome of a Kalaripayattu tournament. This ancient martial art is claimed as the mother of all martial arts – even the Chinese Shaolin chuan from the famous Shaolin temple traces its ancestry to Bodhi Dharma, an Indian Buddhist monk who was a Kalaripayattu expert.[41] The word "kalari" can be traced to ancient Sangam literature.[42] The martial tradition of Kalarippayattu is also dated to ancient Dravidian traditions.[43] Phillip Zarrilli, a professor at the University of Exeter and one of the few Western authorities on kalaripayattu, estimates that kalarippayattu dates back to at least the 12th century CE.[44] The historian Elamkulam Kunjan Pillai attributes the birth of Kalarippayattu to an extended period of warfare between the Cheras and the Cholas in the 11th century CE.[44] What eventually crystallized into this style is thought to have been a product of existing South Indian styles of combat, combined with techniques brought by migration from the north along the western coast.[44] What eventually crystallized as kalarippayattu combined indigenous Dravidian techniques with the martial practices and ethos brought by brahman migrations from Saurastra and Konkan down the west Indian coast into Karnataka and eventually Kerala. Discovery channel notes that Kalarippayattu may be one of the oldest martial arts in existence.[41] The oldest western reference to Kalarippayattu is a 16th century travelogue of Duarte Barbosa, a Portuguese explorer. The Southern style, which places more emphasis on open hand combat was mostly practiced in the southern regions of Kerala.[45]
[edit] Notable Keralites
List of famous Keralites[edit] See also
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