The Mythical King 'Maveli' starts to fade away

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The potbellied emperor with a long moustache and a body covered with ornaments visits Kerala every year during the season of Onam. His coming is considered auspicious.

Years before, people used to wait for his arrival but got disappointed at the end of the day as he never showed up. 51-year-old Cherian from Pathanamthitta reveals, "When I was young, with my siblings, cousins and friends, I used to wait for the arrival of Maveli since daybreak. We discussed and arranged games to play with him by decorating the house with flowers and a ‘pookalam’ (flower carpet) placed in the doorway. We waited for him. But we never saw him coming to our home. Much later, we understood that he was a mythical character and that people dress up as Maveli; even that fascinated and excited us."

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Arathi, a college-going student, shared, "A few years back, I was excited and thrilled to watch people dressing up as Maveli and greeting us during the school days. But as time passed, I lost that interest. One of the reasons might be all the busy schedules in life - busy to meet the daily deadlines of work and colleges. In between that, I just celebrate the festive day as a Sunday, just a day off to relax and enjoy."

The homecoming of the mythical king was considered the main celebration during Onam. Everyone decorated their house with flowers, prepared ‘Sadhya’ (rice and 21 curries), and arranged games for the mighty king. People used to visit their loved ones' houses to celebrate and enjoy the togetherness and unity they share. A time where everyone, irrespective of one's caste and creed, joins and spreads happiness.

But now this has changed. Onam is only a time of a ten-day holiday for the kids. "Maveli is the uncle next door who dresses up funnily and visits us with an umbrella," said Dev, a 6-year-old.

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"Nowadays, children are not even bothered about the cultural practices we have been following since our childhood. I'm not sure whether most kids know who or what this Maveli is connected to. We have to make them understand the significance of these traditional practices and beliefs, or else this will wash out from our state soon", said Thresiamma.