US State of Virginia celebrates Thai Pongal as a state holiday

by Sivakami
Jan 14, 2018

The US State of Viriginia this year celebrated Thai Pongal as a state holiday today along side Tamils in the North-East and Tamil Nadu, India.

Last year the state passed a resolution designating January 14th as 'Pongal Day'. 

U.S. State of Virginia passed a resolution declaring #ThaiPongal as a state holiday https://t.co/7pqTP42uaq Video: pic.twitter.com/Q3eIKM6VDa

— U.S. Embassy Colombo (@USEmbSL) January 5, 2018

"Pongal is a four-day festival that typically begins on January 14 and ends on January 17; the festival is exemplified by the phrase in the Tamil language Thai Pirandhaal Vazhi Pirakkum, meaning the beginning of the Thai month will open avenues for a better life," the resolution noted. 

Read full resolution here. 

Add new comment

About text formats

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Global and entity tokens are replaced with their values. Browse available tokens.

Restricted HTML

  • You can align images (data-align="center"), but also videos, blockquotes, and so on.
  • You can caption images (data-caption="Text"), but also videos, blockquotes, and so on.
  • Global and entity tokens are replaced with their values. Browse available tokens.
  • You can embed media items (using the <drupal-media> tag).

We need your support

Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.

Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view

We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.

link button