Onam lights to illuminate Thiruvananthapuram from Monday; festive vibe in capital city

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Onam celebrations will begin on Monday in Thiruvananthapuram. Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan will inaugurate the Onam Tourism Week celebrations organised by the Tourism Department at 5.30 pm on Monday in Nishagandhi. Minister P.C. Vishnunath will preside.

Film star Kunchacko Boban will be the special guest. Ministers K. Muraleedharan, Minister C.P. John, Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan, Mayor V.V. Rajesh, Dr Shashi Tharoor, MP and others will participate.

The cultural programs will begin with a dance performance by Malayalam film icon Shobhana. During the Onam week celebrations that will continue till the 30th, more than 340 cultural programs are being organised at 35 venues in the capital alone. About 3,000 artists will be on stage and behind the scenes.

Various folk art forms will be performed daily from 6 to 9 pm, from 25th to 30th. The main programs presented at Nishagandhi are Mudiyettu, Tholpavakoothu, Padayani, Arjuna Nritham, Poothanum Thirayum, and a folklore fusion of Samskara Sahithi.

Various art forms, including folk art forms, will also be performed at the Sopanam and Nattaranga venues in Kanakakunnu.

Several folk art forms will be presented at other venues in the capital, including Kovalam, and at Onam celebrations organised by DTPCs in various districts.

14 leading media houses, including Kerala Kaumudi, are collaborating with the government to ensure greater diversity and public participation in the Onam celebrations. The media houses are organising various programs by assembling prominent artists at Nishagandhi, Central Stadium and Poojappura.

Prominent singers and musicians such as Unni Menon, Harishankar, Anoop Shankar, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Harish Sivaramakrishnan, Sooraj Santhosh, Nithya Mammen, Madhu Balakrishnan, Aravind Venugopal, Manjari, Vaikom Vijayalakshmi, Abhaya Hiranmayi and Sachin Warrier will participate in various programs. In addition, many prominent artists including Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri, Vayalar Sarathchandra Varma and Kavalam Sreekumar will be a part of the Onam celebrations.

The Onam procession organised on the closing day will start from Manaveeyam Veedhi on the 5th and conclude at East Fort. Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan will participate as the special guest on the closing day of the week-long celebration.