Shashi Tharoor celebrates Onam in traditional style
Aug 21, 2021
New Delhi [India], August 21 : Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram celebrated Onam at his ancestral home in Kerala's Pallakad with his extended family and even posted a video of himself on a traditional swing.
The MP was recently cleared by a Delhi court of charges in the death case of his wife Sunanda Pushkar.
"There's an Onam swing tradition that one normally leaves to young girls. I was persuaded to get into the spirit of things this year. Happy Onam!" tweeted the Congress leader along with a clip of him enjoying the swing hung on a tree in the courtyard of his family home as a family member pushes it forward.
He also put out a separate tweet on Saturday greeted people on the occasion of Onam.
In an earlier tweet, Tharoor posted a clip of from a Malayalam news TV channel, which captured him explaining details about the festival and how he used to spend his childhood.
He also mentioned that the ancestral house at Pallakad's Elavanchery village was the venue where he married Sunanda Pushkar in August 2010.
Onam is a harvest festival celebrated by Malayalees. The date is based on the Panchangam which falls on the 22nd Nakshatra Thiruvonam in the month Chingam of Malayalam calendar, which in the Gregorian calendar falls between August-September. Chingam is the first month according to the Malayalam calendar.
The celebrations spread over 10 days mark the Malayalam New Year and conclude with Thiruvonam.
Amid a spike in COVID-19 cases in Kerala, the state government has decided to hold Onam celebrations on virtual mode.
The virtual celebration of the Onam festival formally began on August 14.
Meanwhile, Kerala on Friday reported 20,224 new COVID-19 cases and 99 deaths, taking the total caseload to 37,86,797 and the toll to 19,345.
