Rain put a damper on the fourth-day of the week-long government-sponsored Onam celebrations at the 26-odd venues in the capital city and suburbs on Saturday.
The skies opened up early in the evening and it rained continuously for a few hours, dampening the spirits of those who trickled into the Kanakakkunnu Palace premises, the hub of the festivities in the city. For the traditional folk artistes all set to present Mudiyettu, Kaniyarkali, Thullal, Theyyam and Thottampattu, it was an anxious wait.
The children at the venue found time to exchange pleasantries with the artistes who had come from all over the State and to take a close look of the costumes worn by them. When the rain let up, the venue came to life.
At the Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium, the megashow ‘Indradhanush' presented by Asianet Cable Vision was inaugurated by KPAC Lalitha, K. Madhu, Suresh Kumar, Shyamaprasad and Bhagyalekshmi by lighting the traditional lamp. At the function, Minister for Food and Civil Supplies T.M. Jacob presented a memento to actor Jagathy Sreekumar.
Dance and music
Gayathri Govind presented Kuchipudi and Uma Govind, Bharatanatyam at Vyloppilly Samskrithi Bhavan. At the Poojappura grounds, Onam melodies presented by ‘Symphony' fame Krishnakumar drew large crowds. Kathaprasangam at Gandhi Park and Kathakali at Theerthapada Mandapam saw good attendance.
The poetry session at VJT Hall was attended by Pandalam Sudhakaran, Chunakara Ramankutty, and K.P. Gopalakrishnan. A ‘ganamela' (music programme) was presented by Unistar at Suryakanthi and by Millennium Little Stars at the Public Office compound.
Meanwhile, illegal stalls put up as part of an amusement park near the entrance to the Kanakakkunnu Palace were demolished by the authorities with the assistance of the police, the programme coordinator said.