PTI, August 18, 2022, 4:34 PM IST
Kerala Tourism Minister PA Mohamed Riyas on Thursday opened an office exclusively for the upcoming Onam celebrations organized by the State Department of Tourism from September 6-12.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the celebrations with a ceremony at the Nishagandhi Open Air Theater on the grounds of the Kanakakunnu Palace on September 6.
This year, celebrations have been planned on a grand scale as life returns to normal around the world after the COVID-19 pandemic, Riyas said at the inauguration of the Tourism Directorate office here.
“Now, it is time to be joyful again, forgetting the crisis and grief caused by the pandemic. Throughout the state, Onam will be celebrated appropriately. Outside the state capital, celebrations will be organized taking into account all sectors,” said Riyas.
General Education and Labor Minister V Sivankutty, who is the working chairman of the celebrations, said traditional art forms would be given prominence in cultural programs.
Apart from that, a rich variety of programs would provide a veritable cultural feast for the state’s residents as well as tourists during the week-long festival, the minister added.
IB Satheesh MLA, Director of Tourism PB Nooh and officials from the tourism department were present at the ceremony.
A high-level panel with the Chief Minister as Chief Patron, Minister of Tourism as Chairman and President MB Rajesh, Opposition Leader VD Satheesan and Ministers as patrons was formed to conduct the festival.
Legislators and MPs from Thiruvananthapuram district are co-patron of the committee, an official statement added.
