Pongal festivities began at the Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, on Wednesday.
Inaugurating the celebrations, Founder and Chancellor G. Viswanathan said that among the seven ancient languages including Hebrew, Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, Persian and Mandarin, Tamil was being cherished by people across the world. Tamil still retains its essence and has not changed much, he added.
“Educated youth should spend their spare time in farming because agriculture is the mainstay of our economy. As many of them come from farming backgrounds, agriculture activities will carry forward our traditional occupation to the future generations,” he added.
On the occasion, books on water management, millets and agriculture were released by Mr. Viswanathan in the presence of Sankar Viswanathan and G.V. Selvam, vice presidents, VIT. Books published by VIT were given to farmers.
Traditional artforms of Karagattam and Oyilattam were performed by troupes brought in from Thanjavur and Tiruvannamalai. The festival is celebrated every year on the campus.
It is organised every year by Paavendhar Bharathidasan Tamil Literary Association and VIT School of Agricultural Innovations and Advanced Learning. Students from different countries took part.
