Thiruvananthapuram: Congress president Sonia Gandhi will inaugurate the 83rd Sivagiri annual pilgrimage at Sivagiri at 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday. Sree Narayana Dharma Sangham Trust president Swamy Prakashananda will preside in the presence of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, CPI general secretary Sudhakar Reddy and KPCC president V. M. Sudheeran.
The next day’s programme which was supposed to be inaugurated by Vice-President Hamid Ansari has been postponed to January 13. The three-day pilgrimage will conclude on January 1.
Sonia will reach Sivagiri Mutt at 10.30 a.m. from Thiruvananthapuram airport and offer floral tributes at Guru’s Maha Samadhi after which she will proceed to the main venue of the public function.
A health seminar will be held at 1 p.m. which will be inaugurated by Sri Lankan Minister for National Dialogue Mano Ganesan. An agriculture seminar will be inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Tourism, Dr. Mahesh Sharma at 3 p.m. on Wednesday.
Meghalaya Governor V Shanmuganthan will inaugurate a spiritual seminar at 5 p.m. An industrial meet will be inaugurated by Karnataka Home Minister Dr G. Parameshwara.
Social activist Anna Hazare will inaugurate the concluding session at 9 a.m. on New Year’s day. A literary summit will be inaugurated by writer C. Radhakrishnan.
The valedictory function will be inaugurated by Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala and CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury will preside.
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