page_title: Onam
section_title: Music and dance
hierarchical_section_title: Onam / Celebrations, rituals and practices / Music and dance
caption_attribution_description: മലയാളം: തിരുവാതിര കളിയിൽ നിന്നും ഒരു രംഗം. സ്കൂള്‍ കലോത്സവം 2012, തൃശ്ശൂര്‍
context_page_description: Onam is an annual holiday and festival celebrated in Kerala, India. It is also a harvest festival celebrated by all keralates irrespective of religion, whose date is based on the Hindu Panchangam and falls on the 22nd nakshatra Thiruvonam in the Malayalam calendar month of Chingam, which in Gregorian calendar overlaps with August–September. According to legends, the festival is celebrated to commemorate King Mahabali, whose spirit is said to visit Kerala at the time of Onam.
  Onam is a major annual event for Malayali people in and outside Kerala. It is a harvest festival, one of three major Hindu celebrations along with Vishu and Thiruvathira, and it is observed with numerous festivities. Onam celebrations include Vallam Kali, Pulikali, Pookkalam, Onathappan, Onam Kali, Tug of War, Thumbi Thullal, Kummattikali, Onathallu, Onavillu, Kazhchakkula, Onapottan, Atthachamayam, and other celebrations. It is the New Year day for Malayalis.
  Onam is the official state festival of Kerala with public holidays that start four days from Uthradom. Major festivities take place across 30 venues in Thiruvananthapuram, capital of Kerala. It is also celebrated by Malayali diaspora around the world.
context_section_description: Traditional dance forms including Thiruvathira, Kummattikali, Pulikali, Thumbi Thullal, Onam Kali and others. Thiruvathira Kali is a women's dance performed in a circle around a lamp. Kummattikali is a colorful-mask dance. In Thrissur, festivities include a procession consisting of caparisoned elephants surrounded by Kummatikali dancers. The masked dancers go from house to house performing the colorful Kummattikali. Onam Kali is a form of dance where players arrange themselves in circles around a pole or tree or lamp, then dance and sing songs derived from the Ramayana and other epics.
  Kathakali dance is also commonly performed during this time, with dancers enacting famous mythological legends. A famous venue for this is at Valluvanad which is associated with the growth of Kathakali, and Cheruthuruthy, where Kerala Kalamandalam is located.
caption: Thiruvathira Kali dance during Onam.
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