Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 11: As Keralites gear up to celebrate Onam, RSS has triggered a controversy by questioning the legend behind the festival, arguing that it marks the celebration of birth of 'Vamana' (incarnation of Lord Vishnu) and not the homecoming of demon king Mahabali.
An article published in the Onam special edition of RSS mouthpiece 'Kesari' claimed there was no reference in any mythological scriptures which supports the popular and widely circulated legend that Vamana' had sent Mahabali to the netherworld through deceit and the king visits the land annually to meet his subjects.
Countering the argument, senior CPI(M) leader and state Health Minister K K Shylaja said Onam was celebrated by all irrespective of caste, creed and religion and the attempt of the RSS was to bring back the bygone "upper class hegemony".
It was also a part of RSS's agenda to "hijack the festival", the minister alleged. According to the popular belief in the state, Mahabali's homecoming in the Malayalam month of Chingam to see his subjects is celebrated as 'Thiru Onam' annually, which falls on September 14 this year.
However, the article written by K Unnikrishnan Namboothiri in the RSS magazine argued that Onam was originally celebrated as the birthday of Vamana and not a festivity to mark the homecoming of the demon king.
"There is no such reference or explanation anywhere in mythology or epics to support the story that Mahabali was pushed to the netherworld by Vamana and he visits the land every year to meet his subjects. Then, how did such a false story become prevalent in Kerala?" the article stated.
The write-up claimed that Lord Vishnu had actually "blessed" the demon king and not "punished" him by pushing into 'pathala' (netherworld).
"There is no indication in spiritual texts like 'Bhagavatham' or 'Narayaneeyam' or such other authentic books that Bali was pushed to the netherworld. Instead, such texts say that the noble king had emerged victorious in the trial by Vamana and he was blessed by the God," it said.
The writer also criticised the general picturisation of Mahabali as a man with moustache, potbelly and wearing an 'olakkuda' (traditional palm leaf umbrella).
"It is an attempt by some vested interest to distort the mythical stories and paint in poor light the characters of Hindu Puranas," the writer said, adding that such attempts to destroy Hinduism should be checked.
According to mythology, Onam is connected with Asura' (demon) king Mahabali, under whose reign everyone lived in happiness and equality.
Envious by his popularity, Devas' (Gods) sought the help of Lord Vishnu to get him banished into the netherworld.
But before going down, Mahabali secured a boon from Lord Vishnu to visit his subjects every year on the 'Thiru Onam' day.
The demon king's annual visit is celebrated by Keralites, who lay by their front yards with floral carpets, wear new clothes and prepare a sumptuous feast.
The kidnapped schoolboy was rescued by the police and reunited with his parents. Son of a gift shop owner from Basavanagudi area in Bengaluru, Chirag has reportedly told police that decided to make some quick money to spend on cricket betting and gambling after learning kidnap tricks from the ‘Crime Patrol’. According to police, Chirag reached a private school around 3pm on Tuesday on a Bounce rental bike and zeroed in on a fourth standard student who was walking out of school. He told the boy he was his father's friend and that he required help to search for a relative who had gone missing. The boy believed Chirag and rode pillion on the bike. Chirag then engaged the boy in conversation and learnt about his father's business and got his mobile phone number. He then made a call to the boy's father, demanded Rs 5 lakh and warned him against approaching cops. However, the boy's father alerted Cottonpet police and special teams were formed to crack the case. While Cottonpet inspector Venkatesh TC's squad verified CCTV footage in and around the school, Chamarajpet inspector BG Kumaraswamy's team started tracking the suspect's mobile phone movements. An hour later, the suspect's location was traced to a hotel on the Lavelle Road-St Mark's Road stretch. Police rushed there, rescued the boy and arrested Chirag.





Comments
If hindu can follow valmiki (thief)script as holy book, they can trust anything. There is no surprise in onam.
Most of hindu gods looks like demon, what is wrong in worshiping demon king.
Another few RSS workers may die soon....ha haa....that is kerala
Correction. It's vishnus avatar. Too many gods. Thats why got confused.
These rss donno that Fish is shivas avatar. Fish is more holier than cow.
But these people have problem with beef slaughtering which is zero pain in proper halal method.
And fish which die painfully when it comes out of the water.
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