Savanam is another name for Shravanam. The name was changed to Avanam and later it was considered as Onam.
Behind the name
Shravanam is the time when people resume trade after the winter of Karkitakam and monsoon. Savanam is another name for Shravanam. The name was changed to Avanam and later it was considered as Onam.
Onam legends
There are many legends about Onam. I know about some of them
Mahabali
Legend has it that on the day of Thiruvonam, King Mahabali, the king of the people, who had trampled Vamana down to the underworld, came to see his people. Though there are many legends about Onam, Onam in Kerala is also a festival of harvest and prosperity.
Parasurama
There is another legend associated with the story of Parasurama about Onam. Parasurama, who liberated the Kerala temple from Varuna and donated it to the Brahmins, quarrels with them. Parasurama promises to perform at Thrikkakara once a year at the request of the pardoned Brahmins. Onam is also celebrated on this day.
Lord Buddha
Buddhists believe that Prince Siddhartha entered Shravanapadam after enlightenment on the day of Thiruvonam in the month of Shravanam. They argue that Onam commemorates the adoption of Shravanapada in Kerala, which was then dominated by Buddhism. Onam is a strong proof of this.
Cheraman Perumal
Logan, the lord of the Malabar Manual, has associated the Onam celebration with Cheramanperumal. According to Logan, Perumal converted to Islam and went to Mecca on the day of Thiruvonam in the month of Chingam.
Samudragupta-Mantharaja
AD Thrikkakara was the capital of Kerala in the 4th century. Some believe that this may be a historical fact as it is in the Allahabad inscriptions that Onam was celebrated by the Manna king who ruled the place at that time. The Manthata recorded in it was the famous King of Kerala. According to the inscriptions, Samudragupta invaded Thrikkakkara in the invasion of South India, but Samudragupta, impressed by the defense and prowess of the Mantharaja, pleaded for peace and then the king issued a proclamation to celebrate Onam as a political festival to commemorate the war victory at the glorious end of the war in Kerala.
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