ONAM FESTIVITIES GET OFF
TO A STARRY START
The
Onam celebrations began in the State on Saturday with Chief Minister Oommen officially inaugurating the festivities at the Central Stadium here. The
Chief Minister exhorted the people to wholeheartedly participate in the
festivities arranged by the Tourism Department across the State.The grand
inaugural was attended by a galaxy of personalities from the political and film
fields. The government had made elaborate arrangements to celebrate the
festival and its success depended on the participation of people, he said.This
year’s celebrations, he said, assumed significance as it was for the first time
that the celebrations were held after Malayalam was bestowed with the classical
language status. Both the language and Onam had a unifying effect on the people
of the State. At the function, Mr. Chandy honoured actors Sridevi Kapoor and
Prithviraj Sukumaran for their contribution to cinema.Speaker G. Karthikeyan,
in his Onam message, said the celebrations reminded people of the ideals set by
Mahabali and the principles left behind by the great ruler. Mr. Karthikeyan
stressed the need to carry forward the principles of good governance and
politics propagated by Mahabali.
He also
handed over a memento and Rs.10,000 as cash award to veteran Kathakali artiste
Madavoor Vasudevan Nair and Vilpattu artiste Thalayil Kesevan Nair.In his
address, Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor
said when other festivals had a little bit of religious connotation attached to
them, Onam was one festival that was celebrated irrespective of religion, caste
and creed. Actor Sridevi in her address recalled her stint with Malayalam films
and paid rich tributes to the industry. She said that the Malayalam industry
was always ahead of time.Giving away Onam greetings, Mr. Prithviraj said the
true spirit of Onam was that it was celebrated across the State regardless of
religious and caste affiliations.Tourism Minister A.P. Anil Kumar; Health
Minister V.S. Sivakumar; Deputy Speaker N. Sakthan; Palode Ravi and M.A Wahid,
MLAs; and district panchayat president Ansajitha Ressal were present.
Prof. John
Kurakar
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