Onam is also a harvest festival and it usually falls between August to September. The festival has been a part of the regional psyche for centuries with historical records suggesting celebrations as early as 800 AD.

 
There are two specific significances of the festival. Firstly, it marks the celebration of past history as a collective, as elucidated by the the tale of Mahabali; the Asura King Mahabali had conquered all the three worlds, after defeating the Devas. Engaged in a Yagya to mark his victory, the King had decreed that he would give anything that was asked during the period of the prayers. The God Vishnu, came to him, disguised as a Brahmin boy and asked for land measured by His three footsteps. When he agreed the God, measured the heavens in one step and the Earth in the second. As there was still a footstep to be measured the King asked Him to step on his head.
 

Seeing how the King sacrificed himself to keep the honour of his words, the God, pleased with him, made him the ruler of the Underworld. He was also granted permission to visit his subjects once a year.
 
The second significance is the celebration of the newly harvested crop, tied with the memory of the Golden age of Mahabali's rule, one blessed with prosperity. This is underlined by the fact that the month Chingam as part of the old Malayali calender comes after the rainy Karkikadam month.
 
The celebrations traditionally include folk games, family get-togethers and gifting of clothes called Onakkodi. Houses are cleaned and courtyards decorated with Onapookkalam, a carpet made of flowers and one or two varieties of flowers, where clay models representing Mahabali and Vaman are placed.
 
The last day called the Thiruvonam is the most important. All over Kerala, rituals along with new clothes, traditional cuisine, dance and music mark this harvest festival.
 
A cultural procession, called Athachamayam takes place in the royal town of Tripunithura near Ernakulam in Kochi, on the Atham day of Chingam, which also marks the beginning of Onam celebrations. At theVamanmoorthy temple in Thrikkakara, the annual temple festival coincides with Onam.
 
At Vallyvanad in Kerala, Kathakali dancers enact the legends. A procession of royally decorated elephants is taken out at Thrissur, where masked dancers also go from house to house performing the Kummattikali dance. At Cheruthuruthy, people gather to watch Kathakali performers enact scenes from epics and folk tales. Pulikali, which is a performance where dancers painted in likeness of tigers in yellow, black and red dance to the beat of instruments like Udukku and Thakil, is also a common sight.
 
Then who can forget the Vallamkali (the snake boat race) an event almost synonymous with Onam. The most famous boat races here are the Aranmula Boat Race and the Nehru Trophy Boat Race. About a hundred oarsmen row huge and graceful snake boats and men and women come from far and near to watch the snake boats skim through the water.
 
This time's celebrations may however, be overshadowed by the Swine Flu scare, with the World Malyalee Council thinking off calling off the Onam Sadya or the grand Onam feast in order to restrict the spread of the disease.