The Thinakaran (daily) and Thinakaran Varamanjari (weekly), under the auspices of the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd (ANCL)and the Department of Hindu Cultural Affairs celebrated Thai Pongal on a grand scale at the ANCL auditorium last Thursday.
Several distinguished guests including National Co-existence, Dialogue and Official Languages Minister Mano Ganeshan, Education State Minister V. Radhakrishnan, Ceylon Workers’ Congress Vice President K. Marimuthu, senior officials of the Department of Hindu Cultural Affairs, General Manager ANCL Abhaya Amaradasa, senior management team and the editors of all Lake House newspapers, editorial staff of all ANCL publications, and other staff members of ANCL graced the occasion that started at 9.30 am just after the ceremonial boiling of Pongal, the ritual of cooking milk and rice, in front of Lake House with all Hindu traditional decorations in place.
The celebrations featured Bharatha Natyam performances by students of the Colombo Ramanathan Hindu Ladies College, cultural activities and speeches by the guests of honour.
Minister Mano Ganeshan said that the national unity government will stay in power till 2020 and no one needs to harbour doubts about it. It is a government formed by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to lead the country towards a bright future. Communalism, religious and racial fundamentalism, terrorism including state terrorism and secessionist objectives will be wiped out totally from the face of the country.
Ganeshan added that this is a country which has 19 ethnic communities, 4 religions and 3 languages. Thai Pongal is a national festival belonging to all communities.
Instead of students coming to the parliament gallery to observe proceedings, parliamentarians should be sent to schools to observe co-existence amidst students, he said.
Text by P. Krishnaswamy
Pix : Kelum Liyanage