The Students Federation of India (SFI) unit of Brennen College at Thalassery in north Kerala has effected a cultural shift by giving a Dravidian appearance and attire to the mythical king Mahabali who is believed to visit his subjects on Onam day.

In a departure from the Aryan appearance of Mahabali generations of Malayalis are familiar with, the SFI unit of Brennen College on September 1 presented the mythical king as a dark-skinned, lean and wiry man wearing a garland made of native flowers, against the popular portrayal of the king as a fair-skinned, hefty, pot-bellied man with a handlebar moustache and donned in the best of silks, jewellery and even a poonool (a sacred thread worn by Brahmins).

This had a knock-on effect with several other college unions helmed by the CPM students’ wing taking the initiative to present Mahabali, the single most important mascot and brand ambassador of Onam, in his Dravidian appearance. Many social media users shared sketches and paintings of a dark-skinned Mahabali on Thursday.

“This image is influenced by the portrayal of Mahabali by noted artist Pavi Sankar. Since we are celebrating Onam after two Covid years, we decided to give a Dravidian look to Mahabali,” Brennen College students’ union chairman and SFI unit secretary Abhishek E. told The Telegraph on Thursday.

The college in Kannur district is known for being the political springboard that launched leaders such as chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and state Congress president K. Sudhakaran, among others.

The legend around Mahabali is that the asura king was a benevolent ruler who practised equality and brotherhood in his kingdom — today’s Kerala. He was banished to the netherworld by Vamana, the fifth and dwarf incarnation of Lord Vishnu, who was sent by the gods who were jealous of Mahabali’s popularity.

According to the myth, Vamana, who was a Brahmin, went to Mahabali and asked for a piece of land he could cover in three steps. When the generous king readily agreed to part with the land, Vamana took his gigantic form and covered the earth and sky in two steps.

The king who knew the earth would be destroyed if Vamana took another step offered his head. Vamana instantly sent him to the netherworld but allowed him to visit his subjects once a year. The people then began celebrating Onam to commemorate the annual visit of their king Mahabali, according to the myth.

Onam celebrations are incomplete without a man dressed up as Mahabali. But he has been given an Aryan form for generations, triggering the larger question of why an asura king should be fair-skinned and wear silk clothes, jewellery and a sacred thread.

“Other colleges, where the SFI controls the students’ unions, have followed the example we set since this is truly an attempt to re-imagine Mahabali as a true asura king from Kerala who wouldn’t have been fair-skinned and decked as a Brahmin,” said Abhishek.

Madapally College at Vadakara in neighbouring Kozhikode and Kerala Varma College in Thrissur are among the colleges where the SFI showcased the Dravidian Mahabali.

This comes amid increasingly loud claims by the Hindu Right wing that Onam is a Hindu event, although Malayalis across the religious spectrum celebrate the day as a harvest festival.

The RSS mouthpiece Kesari had in 2016 angered Malayalis by trying to rename Onam as “Vamana Jayanti”. Then BJP national president Amit Shah had taken it a step further by tweeting his Onam greetings along with an image showing Vamana stepping on the head of a kneeled Mahabali that signified the asura king’s banishment to the netherworld. This had led to severe trolling by Malayalis who lampooned the “Brahminisation” of even secular festivals like Onam.

The SFI-led students of Maharaja’s College in Ernakulam have scheduled its Onam programme on September 13 with a Dravidian Mahabali. “Our intention is certainly to make a political statement through this visualisation of Mahabali through which we want to educate the student community that this is how the asura king would have looked,” college unit SFI secretary Akhil Babu said.

The national president of the SFI, V.P. Sanu, said the decision to portray Mahabali differently was taken at the unit level of the organisation. “This idea has caught on since people were already questioning why Mahabali would have to be portrayed as an Aryan and not the Dravidian he was according to the legend.”

Noted Malayam writer and commentator M.N. Karassery didn’t find anything objectionable in either interpretation of Mahabali. “By definition, Mahabali is a mythical character. So it’s fine with me if someone wants to portray him as a fair-skinned man or a dark-skinned one.”