Class 47. Festivals and traditions — the Kerala calendar, and what to say at somebody's door on a festival morning. THE TWO SENTENCES THIS CLASS IS REALLY FOR ഓണാശംസകൾ (onaashamsakal) — Happy Onam. വിഷു ആശംസകൾ (vishu aashamsakal) — Happy Vishu. Say those to a Malayali on the right day and something happens to their face. A foreigner who knows the festival greeting is not a tourist any more. They are somebody who has been paying attention. And the general forms: ആശംസകൾ best wishes · മംഗളങ്ങൾ blessings — warmer, more traditional, and what you say at a wedding. ONAM, PROPERLY EXPLAINED Almost every foreigner misunderstands this. **Onam is not a religious festival.** It is the harvest festival and the state festival of Kerala, celebrated by Hindus, Christians and Muslims alike — the closest thing Kerala has to a national day. Malayalis abroad organise Onam in Dubai, London and Houston, and they cry at them. King Mahabali — Maveli — was a just and beloved ruler in whose reign, the song says, everybody was equal and there was no deceit. He was so good the gods grew uneasy; he was pressed into the underworld but granted one visit home each year. Onam is that visit. Kerala cleans itself, decorates itself and feasts, because the good king is coming to see whether his people are still happy. **So Onam is not a celebration of a god. It is a house being made ready for a returning king.** Once you know that, every custom makes sense. THE DAYS AND THE OBJECTS അത്തം (atham) the first day, ten days out, when the flower carpets begin · ഉത്രാടം (uthraadam) the eve, the great preparation day, when the markets are chaos · തിരുവോണം (thiruvonam) the main day. പൂക്കളം (pookkalam) the floral carpet — poo, flower, plus kalam, a design. It grows day by day: small on Atham, biggest on Thiruvonam. തുമ്പപ്പൂ (thumbappoo) the small white thumba flower it is built around. Taught by Dr. Reshmi R Nair.