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Next: 12 Sept 2027

Onam

Flower carpets in rings of orange, yellow, white and purple, and cream cotton with a gold border.

Photo: Jiteshgt, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The colours of Onam

Onam is Kerala's harvest festival and welcomes the return of the good king Mahabali. For ten days each household lays a pookalam before the door, a round carpet of flower petals that grows a ring larger each day: orange and yellow marigold, white thumba, purple globe amaranth, red hibiscus and ixora, and green leaves. People wear kasavu, off-white handloom cotton with a border of gold thread, as a sari, a two-piece set-mundu, or a man's mundu. The plain cream and gold is one of the most recognised looks in India. In Thrissur men paint their bodies as tigers in yellow, orange and black for Pulikali, the tiger dance. The feast is served on a green banana leaf.

#F4ECD6Kasavu creamHandloom cotton worn for the festival.
#C9A227Kasavu goldThe gold thread border.
#F28C1AMarigold orangePetals in the pookalam.
#8E2C7AAmaranth purpleGlobe amaranth in the flower carpet.
#3F8E3ABanana leaf greenThe leaf the feast is served on.

Values are fair approximations, not official shades.

Read about the colours

GoldThe kasavu border.CreamUnbleached handloom cotton.

Also part of it, and being written: Marigold (The main flower of the pookalam.).

About this page

Written by the Rang desk with AI assistance. Background: "Onam" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from family to family and place to place. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

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