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Updated January 14th, 2022 at 07:42 IST

Kerala CM heeds TN CM's request, announces Pongal holiday in 6 districts

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday that January 14 will be a local holiday for Pongal festivals, which is celebrated in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Reported by: Rohit Ranjan
Pongal
Image: PTI | Image:self
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Kerala Cheif Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said that January 14 will be a local holiday for the Pongal festival, which is celebrated in Tamil Nadu and some parts of Kerala.

As per the reports of PTI, the decision to announce January 14 as a holiday comes after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, MK Stalin requested his Kerala counterpart to do so, writing a letter to him. Stalin brought this to the attention of Kerala's chief minister, requesting that a local holiday be declared for Pongal in six districts of the neighbouring state where a substantial number of Tamil people reside and celebrate Pongal.

In the letter, Stalin stated, "This is to bring to your kind and urgent attention the request to declare local holiday for the Pongal festival in 6 districts of Kerala, where Tamil speaking people are living in large numbers. I am given to understand that during the last 12 years the Kerala government has been declaring 14th January as the local holiday for Pongal festival, which is also the first day of auspicious Tamil month "Thai" but during this year 15th January is 2022 is proposed to be declared as a holiday in 6 districts."

He urged CM Vijayan to keep the tradition of announcing January 14 as a municipal holiday for the Pongal festival, which is observed by Tamil people around the world.

Kerala CM announces a holiday

Later, the Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan shared a Tweet announcing the holiday, stating that six districts of Kerala have declared a Pongal vacation on January 14. He also thanked MK Stalin for bringing this to their notice. Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Idukki, Palakkad, and Wayanad districts have declared a one-day local holiday on January 14, according to local media. 

In these districts, however, the 15th of January would be a working day. Although January 15 was listed as a Pongal holiday in this year's calendar, the date has been moved from Saturday to Friday.

More about Pongal

Pongal is a four-day South Indian festival held every January. It's a Tamil New Year's festival that's celebrated in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Because it occurs in the month of Tamil month Thai, the celebration is also known as Thai Pongal. To celebrate the event, people gather with their loved ones and prepare pongal.

(Inputs from PTI)

Image: PTI

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Published January 14th, 2022 at 07:41 IST

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