Onam: When Asin welcomes Maveli

Actress Asin has never hidden her fondness for her state festival Onam. If you ask her what she loves about the festival, she’s quick to rattle off the many images she loves about it — Onasadhya (vegetarian platter) served on banana leaf, payasam, dressing up in pat-pavadas (silk skirts), women in their onakodi (a traditional ivory and gold border saris) and men in their mundus ( lungis).

But the best part of the festival for her was in welcoming Maveli.

“The best part of the day was when Maveli (King Mahabali) came visiting (a la Santa Claus) his subjects’ homes,” she had said.

“He would be welcomed with a flower carpet known as the Athapookalam. As kids we would head out early in the morning with our baskets to collect flowers to make the carpet. It used to be so much fun,” she recalled.