Keralam’s week-long Onam celebrations to begin on Aug 24

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Keralam’s week-long Onam celebrations will begin on Monday, with Chief Minister V D Satheesan inaugurating the state-level festivities at the Nishagandhi Auditorium in Kanakakunnu here.

The CM will inaugurate the celebrations at 5.30 pm on August 24.

Tourism, Culture and Cinema Minister P C Vishnunath will preside over the function, while actor Kunchacko Boban will be the chief guest, a press release said here on Sunday.

Health and Devaswom Minister K Muraleedharan, Transport Minister C P John, Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan, Mayor V V Rajesh and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, among others, will attend the inaugural function.

The cultural programmes will begin with a dance performance by actor Shobana, followed by a live music performance by K S Harishankar at Nishagandhi from 7 pm.

The celebrations, which will continue till August 30, will feature more than 340 cultural programmes across 35 venues in Thiruvananthapuram alone, the release said.

Around 3,000 artistes will take part in programmes on stage and behind the scenes, while more than 8,000 artistes from across the state are expected to participate in the celebrations.

Hundreds of venues have been arranged in various districts as part of the state-wide celebrations.

The festivities have been planned to showcase Kerala’s cultural diversity, traditions, artistic heritage and tourism potential.

The Kanakakunnu grounds have been divided into four zones—Business, Future, Art and Culture, and Food.

The celebrations will conclude on August 30 with a procession that will begin from Manaveeyam Veedhi at 5 pm and end at East Fort.

As many as 62 government departments will participate in the procession, which will feature more than 100 art forms, including folk performances from various states.

Vice-President C P Radhakrishnan will be the chief guest at the concluding function, the release added.

Onam, Keralam’s harvest festival, is celebrated during the auspicious Malayalam month of Chingam, with Thiruvonam, the most important day of the festivities, falling on August 26 this year.