00:00I am however leaving you with a small video about the beautiful festival of Onam.
00:06That's right, tomorrow is Onam and as a half Malayali myself,
00:10I'm going to be here in Bengaluru, won't have time for an Onam Sadhya.
00:14My wishes to all of you, Onashan Sagal and remember to celebrate Onam with us here in India today
00:21by watching the Karnataka Roundtable.
00:23Thanks very much for tuning in.
00:30So long, long time back, there was a king, an Asura king called King Mahabali.
00:35He was hugely loved in his kingdom because anything his Praja wanted, he would give to them.
00:40Anything they asked for, he would ensure their wish was granted.
00:43So they were extremely happy in his kingdom.
00:46The overlords saw this, were extremely jealous and said,
00:50we need to do something about King Mahabali.
00:52And that's when Lord Vishnu decided to step in.
00:55He took on the form of the dwarf Brahmin of Vamana and met with King Mahabali.
01:00And he had one appeal.
01:02He portrayed himself as a poor dwarf, went up to King Mahabali and said,
01:06can you please give me some land?
01:08How much land?
01:09King Mahabali asked him.
01:11He said, three steps, three of my steps, that much land if you can give it to me.
01:16Now King Mahabali said, what's wrong with that?
01:19Sure, I'll go ahead.
01:20In fact, his ministers advised him not to do so.
01:23But King Mahabali, being the generous soul that he was known to be,
01:26said, I will do it and said he will give the land to Vamana.
01:30And that's when Lord Vishnu didn't take up just his real avatar but became much, much bigger.
01:35His first step was the entire planet Earth.
01:39His second step was the universe.
01:42And just as he was about to take his third step, King Mahabali said, don't do it.
01:46Don't step on anything, step on my head himself.
01:49And thereby he offered himself to Vamana.
01:52King Mahabali was then sent to Patalok.
01:55But Lord Vishnu was very, very impressed by King Mahabali,
01:59by how much he cared for his Praja and all that he did to take care of his people.
02:03So when he asked King Mahabali, name one thing you want, one wish,
02:08King Mahabali said, I want to be able to visit my people.
02:11And so once a year, he's allowed to come and visit his people.
02:16That day is called Onam.
02:19And it is in preparation to welcome our favorite king, King Mahabali,
02:23that you see people gathering in large numbers and celebrating Onam even today.
02:28I think when we talk about Onam, we also need to be talking about all the memories we have with
02:33this beautiful festival.
02:34For so many of us Malayalis who celebrate Onam, it's a day filled with happy, happy memories.
02:40I remember mine personally to be one from just a couple of years ago.
02:44It was a pandemic Onam at home here in Delhi.
02:48And my sister from the United States flew down.
02:51And we made this beautiful Pukalam along with my husband inside home with great difficulty got flowers.
02:57So that's a very memorable Onam for me.
02:59So we all as Malayalis come together to celebrate Onam.
03:02It doesn't matter if someone's Hindu, Christian, Muslim or any other faith.
03:07Onam is a cultural celebration of the traditions of Kerala.
03:11And what you'll see if you visit Kerala at this time of the year is a lot of colorful competitions.
03:17You'll see Pukalams, flower arrangements all around.
03:19And of course, who can forget the delicious food, the sadhyaas that's become a part and parcel of Onam.
03:26So this year, join us as we come together to celebrate Onam festivities across the country.
03:33Allaikum, Hridayah Narinya, Onashisaka.
