Onam, a festival that marks the return of a popular demon king from the underworld, will be celebrated by the Malayali community in HCM City next Sunday.
They will be joined in large numbers by their Indian, Vietnamese and international friends.
This year's celebration has a few special events including a concert by upcoming playback singer Anand Narayanan, who is a popular TV host and entertainer in Kerala with several performances abroad to his credit.
Anand's concert will feature popular film songs in at least three languages – Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi.
A traditional Onam dance, a special pookkalam (flower carpet arrangement), traditional attire competition and attractive raffle ticket prizes will also be part of the event.
An Onam feast with all the dishes that are traditionally in Kerala will be prepared by a chef invited for the occasion.
Tickets for the event, which will begin at 6.30pm at the Vietnam News Agency office on 116-118, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street in District 3, are available at leading Indian restaurants in the city as well as the InCham office.
On the surface, this seems to be the fate of King Mahabali, legendary king of the Indian state of Kerala, whose extreme goodness made the gods themselves uneasy and insecure.
In the Hindu tradition, Lord Vishnu assumes an avatar and descends to the earth to free the world from oppression, usually perpetrated by an asura – or demon.
King Mahabali was an exceptional asura, though. His subjects suffered no want during his reign, there was little hunger and disease, and no one was discriminated against on the basis of caste, creed or class.
His popularity made the gods jealous, and they approached Lord Vishnu for help.
Vishnu took the form of Vamana, a puny ascetic, and approached the king for alms. Never one to refuse any request, Mahabali gave him what he wanted – as much land as he could cover in three steps.
As soon as his request was acceded to, Vishnu measured the entire earth with one step, and the heavens with the next. Mahabali humbly offered his head for the third step, whereupon he was pushed to the netherworld.
Before his descent, however, the King's wish to return to the earth every year, to see for himself that his subjects were still happy and prosperous, was also granted.
The day of his return is the culmination of a ten-day harvest festival in Kerala called Onam. — VNS