Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will on Saturday inaugurate the virtual Onam celebrations organised by the Tourism Department. Tourism Minister P.A. Mohammed Riyas will preside over the function to be held online at 6 p.m.
The department is organising a virtual pookkalam (floral carpet) competition, with the message 'World Onappookkalam for humanity', in which Malayalis across the world can participate. Ministers, Speaker, people's representatives, government offices and employees will be part of the competition. Anyone can take part in the contest by uploading an image of their pookkalam in the Onam celebrations-related page in the Tourism Department's website.
Art forms
As part of the virtual celebrations, performances of traditional art forms by local artistes will be broadcast through the department's social media pages and the visual media. The programme is aimed at providing succour to maximum number of artistes who have lost their livelihood due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The department is promoting the virtual celebration as a campaign on the revival of the tourism industry as well as the arts and culture sphere in the State that have been hit by the pandemic. For more information on registration for the pookkalam competition, visit www.keralatourism.org.
