Onam celebrations at Sasthamkotta Sree Dharma Sastha Temple in Kollam district include a unique ritual in which the traditional Onam feast is served not to people, but to monkeys. Called ‘Vanara Sadya’, the feast is organised on Uthradam, the day before Onam, and on the Onam day. This year, the first feast was held on August 25.
An Onam feast, consisting of several items, is an integral part of the celebrations. Family members traditionally come together to prepare various curries, banana chips and payasam before sitting down to enjoy the elaborate lunch. At Sasthamkotta, however, the feast is prepared for the monkeys.
Vanara means monkey and sadya means feast. Temple devotees have been organising the Vanara Sadya for several decades, while there are also people who believe that the tradition is centuries old.
The feast is served to the monkeys on plantain leaves, just as it is served to people. As soon as the feast was laid out, monkeys arrived and began eating, creating an interesting scene. Some Malayalam television channels also telecast the event live.
The monkey feast is considered a symbol of human sympathy and empathy towards God’s creations. In other words, human beings remember animals on the day of the harvest festival. It also conveys the message that none shall starve. The feast will continue on the Onam day, August 26.
Rice, dal, papad, pachadi (vegetable cooked in yoghurt), aviyal (curry of mixed vegetables), pickles, banana chips, sweet banana chips and payasam were prepared this year as in previous years. The organisers said the monkeys particularly liked aviyal, papad, payasam and chips.
The feast was served in a dining pandal specially erected for the monkeys. Various teams of monkeys arrived one after another to have the feast.
Legend has it that the presence of monkeys in Sasthamkotta dates back to the Ramayana period. Rama and his army of monkeys, after killing Ravana, returned from Sri Lanka and reached Sasthamkotta on their way to Ayodhya. Rama then deployed a team of monkeys as the friends of Sastha, the presiding deity of the temple.
Devotees believe that the monkeys seen at Sasthamkotta today are successors of those monkeys linked to Rama’s period.
