Vamana Avatar

VAMANA AVATAR

Vamana mean dwarf, is the fifth avatar of god Vishnu. God vishnu rebirth to restore balance by defeating the asura king Bali with a large power over the universe. According to hindu mythology, the asura king after his exploits and conquest a gift giving ceremony held to consolidate his power. God Vishnu appears at this ceremony as a dwarf avatar Brahmin called Vamana. When his turn to receive a gift from Bali. He offers wealth to Vamana. Vamana refuses everything and said he would just like three steps worth of land. Bali finds the dwarf's request very small and he grants it. Vamana then grows into a giant. In the first step, he covers the earth. In second, he takes the heavens. For the third, Bali offers his head on which Vamana steps sending the demon king to the Patala (hell).

According to the Rigveda it describes Vishnu as that benevolent god who in three steps defined all there is in the universe. The giant form of Vamana is also known as Trivikrama ("three steps").

ONAM FESTIVAL

In one side of the Vamana avatar, when asura bali offered himself for Vishnu's third step, it was an act of bali's devotion. Vishnu granted him a boon. Bali chose to revisit earth, once every year, the lands and people he previously ruled. The revisit of bali is celebrated as festival of Onam, as reminder of the bali’s rule and his humility in keeping his promise before Vishnu.

According to Nanditha Krishna, a simpler form of this legend, one without Mahabali, is found in the Rigveda and the Vedic text Shatapatha Brahmana where a solar deity is described with powers of Vishnu. This story likely grew over time, and is in part allegorical, where Bali is a metaphor for thanksgiving offering after a bounty of rice harvest during monsoon, and Vishnu is the metaphor of the Kerala sun and summer that precedes the Onam. According to mr.dlal, the story of bali is important to Onam in Kerala, but similar bali legends are significant in the region of Balia in Uttar Pradesh, Bawan also in the same state, Bharuch in Gujarat, and Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra. The story is significant not because bali's rule ended, but it emphasizes the Hindu belief in cyclical nature of events, that no individual, no ruler and nothing lasts forever, except the virtues and self understanding that overcomes all sorrow.