THE PLACE OF THE HOLY FOOT





Pic.: Sherry Haridas

 King Mahabali was a demon king. (Asura). But, jut like his grandfather, Prahlad (son of Hiranyakashyap), he was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. He was a just ruler, very compassionate and generous; The period of his rule was hailed as the ‘Golden Era’, when all people were treated equally, and there was no illwill among people and the society was not plagued by any social ills. Yes, all people lived in Mahabali’s kingdom happily... And, they loved him, adored him as their great, benevolent king...
Now, the immense popularity of the demon king, Mahabali, made Devas (Gods) so insecure that they sought Lord Vishnu’s help.
Lord Vishnu wanted to test the faith and integrity of his devotee, king Mahabali... If the massive adulation from his subjects had made the ruler arrogant... If he was, indeed, compassionate, just and generous...
So, when king Mahabali was doing his yagna, Lord Vishnu came to visit the king assuming the form of a dwarf – a brahmana-boy by the name Vamana. The king showered his love, affection and respect on the guest and promised to offer whatever was asked for. Sensing that the visitor was no ordinary lad, king’s guru, Shukracharya, tried to dissuade the ruler from making any promise to the visitor. However, the king, who treated all guests as Gods, went ahead and decided to honor any wish of his guest.
Vamana, with humility, asked for only three measures of land, just measurable by his three steps...
The wish was granted...
Vamana, immediately grew to a giant proportion and, with his first step, covered the entire Earth... With his second step, he covered the entire Heaven... There was no place to keep his third step... King Mahabali, immediately, bowed down before Vamana and offered his head to place the the last step...
Vamana, with his last step, pushed down the king to the nether world, Patala!
This was an unusual act of devotion... a great sacrifice - a ‘Maha Bali’. Lord Vishnu was hugely impressed and, granted the boon to his true devotee to live forever in the hearts of his subjects... He, also, granted Mahabali the permission to visit his beloved people, once, every year...
His people still love and adore Mahabali...To them, he is their greatest king – the noblest of all... the humblest of all... the truest of all... They have named the site of his great  sacrifice – where, Vamana (Lord Vishnu) had placed his third step – as the village of Thrikkakara – the place of the holy foot... On the eve of Mahabali’s annual visit to his beloved land, his people decorate this spot with fresh, colorful flowers... dress up in impeccable white and gold... and, wait with love and devotion for their beloved king to come, visit them... be with them for a while... They want to assure him that they are his deserving people... happy... blessed with golden hearts... simple and humble, mighty yet generous and truthful...
Yes, that’s why their land is called - ‘God’s own Country’. Kerala...
And, the day of their king’s annual visit is called - ‘ONAM’...
A happy Onam to all my lovely-curly friends... May the spirit of of your great ruler guide you, always...

GERALD D’CUNHA

Comments

Sheela Nair said…
Happy Onam sir, nice article. Thanx. Sheela Nair
September 6, 2014 at 6:33 PM
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