Mahabali (IAST: Mahābalī, Devanagari: महाबली, Malayalam: മാവേലി, മഹാബലി) is also known as Bali or Māveli or "Vairochana" was a benevolent Asura King, and the grandson of Prahlada in Indian scriptures.
The story goes that Kerala was ruled by an Asura king, Mahabali. The King was greatly respected in his kingdom and was considered to be wise, judicious and extremely generous. It is said that Kerala witnessed its golden era in the reign of King Mahabali. Everybody was happy in the kingdom, there was no discrimination on the basis of caste or class. Rich and poor were equally treated. There was neither crime, nor corruption. People did not even lock their doors, as there were no thieves in that kingdom. There was no poverty, sorrow or disease in the reign of King Mahabali and everybody was happy and content.
The festival of Onam is celebrated in Kerala to mark his yearly homecoming after being sent down to the underworld Sutala by Vamana, a dwarf and the fifth incarnation avatar of Vishnu. The government of Kerala declared Onam as the ‘State Festival’ of Kerala in 1960.
Mahabali is a 1983 Indian Malayalam film, directed by J. Sasikumar and produced by EK Thyagarajan. The film stars Prem Nazir, Jayabharathi, Adoor Bhasi and Unnimary in lead roles. The film had musical score by M. K. Arjunan.
The music was composed by M. K. Arjunan and lyrics was written by Pappanamkodu Lakshmanan and .