Celebrated for ten days in the month of Chingam (the first month as per the Malayalam calendar), Onam is an important festival for every Malayalee. It is the festival, which every Malayalam speaking person relates to him/her and his/her homeland - Kerala. The festival banishes all the barriers of castes and religion, because in the Empire of King Mahabali, people live in unison and in prosperity. It is said that truth is the only religion followed by people, who belong to the Empire of King Mahabali. Certain quotations remind us of the fact that Onam unites the people of Kerala. In the following lines, we have given popular Onam quotes.

Onam Quotations

"When Maveli, our King, ruled the land,
All the people had equality.
And people were joyful and merry;
They were all free from harm.
There was neither anxiety nor sickness,
Death of the children was never even heard of,
There were no lies,
There was neither theft nor deceit,
And no one was false in speech either.
Measures and weights were right;
No one cheated or wronged his neighbor.
When Maveli, our King, ruled the land,
All the people formed one casteless race."
(Translation of popular quote: "Maaveli naadu vaanidum kalam..")

"We celebrate Onam to commemorate a glorious past. All of us yearn for a time like that of King Mahabali, a time when prosperity, joy and love blended. But in order to realize this dream we need to put forward creative and sustained effort."
- Anonymous

"In the evolutionary order of the incarnations of Lord Vishnu, we find that Vamana is the first incarnation with a human body. By now, the animalistic features are discarded and Human Being is born. Here we have to note that Vamana is not born outside but in the mind of Rakshasa or Demon King Mahabali, who has changed his Rakshasa nature and sticks to truthfulness and charity. He rises prepared to sacrifice his everything. To Vamana he not only gave all the three worlds he possessed but also allowed to boy to place his foot on his own head. Thereby Mahabali made the greatest sacrifice – the absolute sacrifice of his own ego. "
- Mata Amritanandamayi

"We have lost the true spirit of Onam. Let each of our actions be a yajna for universal good. May the new clothes we wear be that of Dharma and faith. May our hearts be united in love and joy, and make life an everlasting Tiruvonam. Thus we can retrieve the lost Onam."