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Keralites celebrate harvest festival of Onam
People of Kerala celebrated 'Thiru Onam', the final day of their harvest festival, 'Onam' on Friday.

The ten-day festival was celebrated with both fervour and enthusiasm across the state.

The festival is greatly awaited across Kerala, as it is believed that this harvest festival heralds both prosperity and happiness in people's lives.

The festival also holds significance as it is celebrated once the granaries are full, a sign of affluence for a poverty-ridden country.

The ten day festival began on 'Atham' which was celebrated on August 31 and ends on 'Thiru Onam' in the month of 'Chingam' (August to September).

According to popular legend, the harvest festival marks the return of King Mahabali to meet his beloved subjects.

In accordance with this mythological belief, the town of Kochi witnessed a procession to welcome King Mahabali.

Men and women were seen dressed in beautiful traditional attires to participate in the procession.

Similar celebrations were witnessed in state capital Thiruvananthapuram where women dressed in traditional attire decorated their houses and made traditional floral carpets known as 'Pookalam'.

The traditional 'Ona-pookalam' usually contains ten rings, indicating the ten-day rituals, during celebrations of Onam.

The festival of 'Onam' is marked with various festivities which include women performing various dance performances and men playing musical instruments to celebrate the auspicious occasion.