Mahabali's Kerala had no lie in it, no theft, no one going without. He was an asura and he was a better king than the gods had, which was the difficulty.
Vishnu ji came to him as a small brahmin boy and asked for three paces of land. Mahabali, who never refused anyone, said yes, and the boy grew until one pace covered the earth and the second the sky.
There was nowhere for the third. Mahabali bent his head and offered it, and was pressed down into the underworld with a foot on his crown.
He asked for one thing: to come back once a year and see his people. He comes on Thiruvonam. The flowers at the door and the sadya laid out on the leaf are so that he finds nothing to worry about.
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