8 special trains announced for Onam: SCR

CHENNAI: South Central Railway has officially announced festival special trains, in view of the rush of passengers during the upcoming festive season, in its twitter page.

Onam is one of the traditional festivals celebrated by people of Kerala and South Tamil Nadu. It is said that Emperor Mahabali visits his people every year and Thiruvonam is celebrated to welcome him. This festival is celebrated in the month of Avani in the Tiruvona Nakshatra and is celebrated for 10 days with much fanfare. This year it is celebrated from August 30 to September 8.

For the past 2 years, the people of Kerala have been celebrating Onam in a simple way due to the Corona pandemic, but this year they are waiting to celebrate it in an extreme grand manner. However, the South West Monsoon and the spread of monkeypox has been a big challenge for the state government.

Since Onam is the most important festival, Malayalis who have gone for education, business etc. across the country will return to their hometown. At the same time, tourists from different parts of the country will go to Kerala to witness competitions like hand wrestling, tiger dance (Pulikali), elephant festival, tug of war, kalari and boat races. Apart from this onam special food, Athipookkolam and traditional dance competitions are held every 10 days.

The State government will run special buses from the border districts of Tamil Nadu like Coimbatore, Kumari and Nilgiris to avoid overcrowding in buses and trains. Accordingly, 8 pairs of special trains have been announced for Onam festival from Chennai to Kerala via southern and western districts.

A special train will run from Tambaram to Mangalore on September 2 via Egmore, Perambur, Katpadi, Salem, Coimbatore, Palakkad, Thrissur. In the reverse direction, the train will run from Mangalore to Tambaram. Similarly, a special train will run from Tambaram to Kochuveli via Egmore, Katpadi, Salem, Tirupur, Coimbatore, Ernakulam, Kottayam on September 4. Another special train will run from Kochuveli to Tambaram on 5th September.

Further, a special train will run from Nagercoil to Egmore via Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kottayam, Aluva, Coimbatore, Salem, Katpadi on September 11. A special train will be operated from Chennai Egmore to Nagercoil via Tambaram, Chengalpattu, Villupuram, Trichy, Madurai, Nellai on September 12.