The week-long Onam celebrations organised by the state Tourism Department began here on Saturday.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy inaugurated the function in which actors Sreedevi and Prithviraj were the chief guests.
“Onam and Malayalam language are the key factors that link Keralites,” the Chief Minister said.
“Onam is a festival which unites Malayalis. It is the pride of the state,” he said.
Speaker G Karthikeyan delivered the Onam message. Tourism Minister A P Anil Kumar presided over the function.
Legendary Kathakali artiste Madavoor Vasudevan Nair was honoured at the function. The Chief Minister also presented mementos to the chief guests.
Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor, Deputy Speaker N Sakthan, Minister V S Sivakumar, MLAs M A Vahid and Palode Ravi, among others, spoke.
‘Ilanjithara Pandimelam’ by a 101-member group led by Peruvanam Kuttan Marar was held prior to the inaugural function.
District Tourism Promotion Councils would conduct arts and cultural events in all the districts during the week.
In Thiruvananthapuram district, there would be events at Varkala, Chirayinkeezh, Shanghumugham, Aruvikkara, Neyyar Dam and Kovalam.
In the capital city, the events would be spread across 27 venues.
CPM workers stage protest
CPM on Saturday organised a protest march and dharna in front of the venue of the Onam Week celebrations to protest against Chief Minister Oommen Chandy who inaugurated the event.
The march started from Azad road was stopped by police when it reached the YMCA road near the Central stadium, the venue of the celebrations.
Protestors, both men and women, dressed in black clothes marched to the stadium to protest against the Chief Minister whom they want to resign in connection with the solar scam.
CPM state committee member Anavoor Nagappan inaugurated the march and dharna.
V Sivankutty MLA, A A Arasheed and B S Rajesh led the march and dharna.
There were strong posse of police under ACP A Sreenivas to deal with any untoward incident.
However, the protest was peaceful.