For many others Onam is a significance of harvest season in Kerala. Depending on the positioning of the stars and the moon, the festival is held at the end of August or beginning of September, less than a fortnight after the Malayalam New Year, Chingam begins. This is the biggest festival of the southern Indian state of Kerala and is celebrated with huge pomp and show.
This 10 day long festival is the best time for touring Kerala and thus visitors in large numbers throng the place every year around Onam. Celebrations are at its peak. Houses are decorated; people wear new clothes and exchange gifts. Traditional oil lamps are lit in the courtyard and women dressed in traditional Kerala sarees dance around the lamp, dancing the famous Thiruvathirakali dance. The main event on Onam day is a grand feast at lunchtime, called sadya. The extensive meal consists of a series of dishes served in succession and includes rice, vegetable curries, pickles and several varieties of payasam or sweet dish. Snake Boat races, Kathakali and Mohiniattam dance recitals and musical performances are some of the other cultural items performed during the Onam festival.
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