The time when Travancore said no to longer Onam holidays in Keralam
This article explores historical records from the 1930s regarding debates in the Travancore Sri Mulam Assembly over the duration of Onam holidays. It highlights the government's past resistance to extending the festival break compared to the Christmas-New Year period.
Why it matters
It provides historical context on the evolution of public holiday policies and cultural recognition in pre-independence India.
Nowadays, it is taken for granted that the Onam holidays would run into several days. But it was not always so, reveal old records from the time before the modern-day State of Keralam was formed in 1956.
Questions were raised and answers given in the Travancore Sri Mulam Assembly (a precursor to the current State Legislative Assembly) in the 1930s over a demand that the number of public holidays for Onam be raised to 10 as was the case with the Christmas-New Year break. Back then, the government took the stand that the number of holidays cannot be increased as there were already a “sufficiently large number of holidays in the year.”
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