When is Onam 2025: Know Thiruvonam date, timings, and more about this Kerala festival
The festival commemorates the appearance of the Vamana avatar of Vishnu and subsequently the homecoming of King Mahabali.
Onam is observed in the Chingam month on the Malayalam solar calendar, which usually corresponds to between August and September in the Gregorian calendar.
The festive celebrations of Onam commence on Atham day (the day when Atham Nakshatra prevails) and continue for 10 days until the last day, called Thiruvonam, the main day.
This year, Onam festivities will begin on August 26, 2025, and will conclude with Thiruvonam falling on Friday, September 5, 2025.
According to drikpanchang.com, Thiruvonam Nakshathram will begin on September 4, at 11:44 PM, and conclude on September 5 at 11:38 PM.
They celebrate the festival by deep cleaning their homes, taking early morning baths, decorating their homes with flowers, creating Pookalam (colourful patterns) outside their homes, and eating Onam Sandhya, a feast prepared with the help of all family members and traditionally eaten with hands.
Households in the southern state make a variety of banana chips, a popular Kerala dish, to serve during the feast. Family members exchange gifts of 'onakkodi' (new clothes), and in their home's courtyards, a swing is hung from a high limb of a tree and decked with 'oonjal' flowers.
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