First attestedunknownfrom the timeline
PractitionersUnknownno census we can cite
Claims on record00 sourced evidence rows
Sources cited1deduplicated by publisher

The tradition

Onapottan (Onesvaran) is a folk character that appears during the Onam season in North Malabar region of Kerala. The Onapottan visits the houses during the Utradam and Thiruvonam days of Onam.

Onapottan (Onesvaran) is a folk character that appears during the Onam season in North Malabar region of Kerala. The Onapottan visits the houses during the Utradam and Thiruvonam days of Onam. The role of Onapottan is enacted by an artist. The name Onapottan is given to this character because he does not speak (pottan = deaf in Malayalam language). His arrival is announced by the ringing of the traditional 'hand bell'. He wears elaborate props including the heavy crown, palm leaf umbrella, bangles and face paint. He is supposed to bring prosperity to the houses he visits by giving blessings. Onapottan is not a common sight now, and is popular only in villages. In some parts of Kerala, the right to enact Onapottan is restricted to members of Malaya community.

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Onapottan”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence.

Onapottan is folk character, traditional art form from Kerala, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition.1

The source record links this tradition to 1 external register, which can be verified through the citation.1

Sources

0 claims and 0 timeline entries on this page draw on 1 sources, deduplicated by publisher.

SourceTypePublisher
Wikidata: Onapottan (Q13110844)databaseWikidata

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Cite: “Onapottan.” folkroom, https://folkroom.org/art-forms/onapottan — text CC BY-SA, with attribution.
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