Is Tomorrow a Holiday in Kerala for Schools
The state government of Kerala has declared a holiday on October 11, meaning that students will have three consecutive weekends off next week.
The academic calendar for the state indicates that all schools will be closed on October 12 in observance of Mahanavami.
A Sunday falls on October 13. During this time, they also celebrate Navratri with the Ayudha Puja. “Pooja Veyp” (providing materials for veneration) is the name given to the practice of cleaning and decorating various objects, including textbooks, tools, machinery, and cars, for the purpose of offering them at temples or in private prayer rooms on Durgashtami day. Following priestly blessings and prayers on Mahanavami day, the books and tools are brought out in front of a lit lamp on Vijayadashami day in preparation for “Vidyarambha.”
Pooja Holidays
While the academic calendar designates October 11 as Durgashtami, October 12 as Mahanavami, and October 13 as Vijayadashami, this year’s Ashtami, as observed during the “Pooja Veyp” rite, will actually take place on the evening of October 10, according to the lunar calendar. October 11 is Mahanavami and October 12 is Vidyarambha at the world-renowned Kollur Mookambika Temple in Karnataka. Nonetheless, Vijayadashami is celebrated on October 13 in Malayalam calendars, taking into account the “nazhika”—a traditional unit of time measurement equivalent to 24 minutes utilised by astrologers in Kerala.
The plan is for students in Kerala to submit their textbooks for Pooja on Thursday night and then retrieve them on Sunday for Vidyarambha. In reaction to a request from the National Teachers Union (NTU), Thursday, October 11, was declared a holiday.
