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Onam – A celebration of Brahmanical Hegemony

The powerful religio – cultural movement of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries after Christ – Aryanisation has left its imprint on the history of Thrikkakara too. The process of Aryanisation is reflected quite elegantly through the legend of Vamana and the celebration of one. Straining out the truth from the interpolations and myths, one’s shrewd eyes can read between the lines and find that the Mahabali and Vamana story to be an ingenious attempt to preserve the social history by our forefathers. The legend of Vamana stamping down Mahabali, thereby sending him to Pathala might show the ascendancy of the Brahmins over the Kshatriyas. It is also a clear pointer towards the process of Aryanisation as the legend portrays the Brahmin hermit – Vamana stamping down Mahabali – a demon king. It has been verified by historians that Dravidians or the native population has been called as demons and asuras in the puranas; hence the legend might as well point towards the administration passing into the hands of Brahmins after the 12th century A.D. Vamana’s demand for three feet of land and then his growing into an omnipotent form also can point towards the position of Brahmins when they first infiltrated into the land, their acceptance and their amazing growth in stature and power. The Brahmins were given land grants as they were the priests and they set up their agraharams there and soon became the masters of the land as they amassed more and more wealth; slowly becoming more powerful than the native rulers and gradually ousting them out of power.