Kerala's festival year in order — so you know what is happening around you, why the shops are shut, and what to say. Kerala runs on several calendars at once. The Malayalam calendar is solar, so its months hold steady against the seasons; most Hindu festivals are set by lunar reckoning, so they drift within a few weeks; the Islamic calendar is purely lunar, so its festivals move about eleven days earlier each year. I am Dr. Reshmi R. Nair, an applied linguist from Kerala. I have taught hundreds of learners to speak Malayalam as it is actually spoken. ചിങ്ങം (chingam, from mid-August) — ഓണം (onam) Ten days, from the star Atham to തിരുവോണം (thiruvonam). The പൂക്കളം (pookkalam) flower carpet, the great vegetarian സദ്യ (sadya) on a banana leaf, new clothes, snake boat races, and the story of the just king Mahabali returning to his people. Everything stops, everyone goes home, travel is impossible — and if you are invited to an Onam sadya, you accept. The greeting: ഓണാശംസകൾ (onaashamsakal) കന്നി (kanni, from mid-September) നവരാത്രി (navaraathri), and at its close വിജയദശമി (vijayadashami), when small children are taught their first letters in the വിദ്യാരംഭം (vidyaarambham) ceremony. On ആയുധപൂജ (aayudhapooja) tools are placed for blessing — which is why you may see a mechanic's spanners laid out neatly with flowers on them. തുലാം (thulaam, from mid-October) ദീപാവലി (deepaavali) falls here, and it is worth knowing that Diwali is a comparatively minor festival in Kerala. LENT AND EASTER നോമ്പ് (nombu) - the Lenten fast, with പെസഹ (pesaha) on Maundy Thursday — the Hebrew Passover word — and ദുഃഖവെള്ളി (dukhavelli), Good Friday, literally sorrow-Friday. മേടം (medam, from mid-April) വിഷു (vishu), the astronomical new year, centred on the വിഷുക്കണി (vishukkani) — gold, rice, fruit, a mirror, a lamp and the yellow കണിക്കൊന്ന (kanikkonna) blossom, which the family must see first on waking. Then വിഷുക്കൈനീട്ടം (vishukkaineettam), money given by elders to children. And തൃശ്ശൂർ പൂരം (thrisshoor pooram): caparisoned elephants in ranks, the parasol exchange, hours of massed drumming and competitive fireworks. Which one are you planning to see? Comment below. #LearnMalayalam #Kerala #Onam