Rain dampens Onam festivities in Thiruvananthapuram

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The belated monsoon showers in the city are dampening the spirit of the week-long festivities organized by the state government as part of Onam celebrations. Despite the presence of stars from film and television industry in many programmes, the unexpected downpour has left the seats empty in some of the open air venues, which otherwise have always remained full.
The mega shows and music concerts being sure crowd pullers were reserved for venues like Nishagandhi, Kanakakunnu, Poojapura ground and Chandrasekharan Nair stadium. However, with no one anticipating heavy showers during the month of August, none of the venues were equipped with roofs.
After bringing together nearly 5,000 artistes in 27 different venues for the week long Onam fair, the empty seats in the main venues were the last thing the organizers were expecting. “We never thought the rain would play spoilsport to our programmes. We should have planned it in advance. However it would have required a huge budget. As of now all we can do is to wait for the rain to subside,” said MLA Palode Ravi who is also the chief coordinator of the Onam fair organizing committee.
Palode Ravi added that arrangements would be put in place from next year onwards to ensure hassle free conduct of programmes even if it rains. “A proposal will soon be submitted to the state government with regard to upgrading the facilities at Poojapura, Nishagandhi and Kanakakunnu. As for Chandrasekharan Nair stadium, a temporary roof will be arranged for the Onam fair from next year,” said Ravi.