Tamil Nadu bade farewell to the 2015 festival season on Sunday with the entire population visiting the dear and near ones to exchange Pongal greetings and seek the blessings of the family elders. It was the day of sightseeing and by evening all public places and tourist spots in Chennai, especially the Marina and Besant Nagar beaches and the Vandalur Anna Zoological Gardens turned into an ocean of humanity. Traffic in many places went haywire as people came out in large numbers from their homes to get a last glimpse of the festival season.
With the festival season of 2015 coming to a close, it is time for the summer to set in the State any time now. The period between November and January 15 is the best time of the year to visit to Chennai due to the placid climate and festivities. After the Pongal festival, most parts of the State wear a dreary ambience.
From Monday onwards schools and educational institutions will resume full time classes in a bid to finish the syllabus before March 2016. Most schools and colleges in the State remained shut down for an almost a month due to the heavy rains and resultant floods. “People in the State prefer to forget the year 2015 because of the natural calamities which claimed more than 400 lives and caused widespread devastation,” said R V Giri, lead farmer and president, Consortium of Indian Farmers Association.
Madurai saw leaders of the People’s Welfare Front staging a day-long sit in to protest against the failure of both the State and Central Governments to get a favourable order from the apex court to stage the traditional bull taming sport of Jallikattu. The festivities of 2016 will begin with the Vinayaka Chathurthi in September 2016. “Now it is time to worry about the scorching heat of the 2016 summer. The 2015 festival season will always remain as a nightmare due to the floods which devastated Chennai,” said Ramesh Sethuraman, IT honcho and city resident.