Chennai: Tamilnadu Chief Minister M K Stalin today urged his Kerala counterpart Pinayari Vijayan to declare 14 January as local holiday for Pongal festival.
In a letter to Vijayan, a copy of which was released to the media here, Stalin said, ‘This is to bring to your kind and urgent attention the request to declare local holiday for the Pongal Festival in the 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 the auspicious Tamil month ‘Thai’; but during this year, 15th January 2022 is proposed to be declared as a holiday in these 6 districts.’
He added: ‘I request you to continue the practice of declaring 14th January as the local holiday for Pongal Festival as it is being celebrated on that particular date all over the world amongst the Tamil communities.’