VIT founder and chancellor G. Viswanathan inaugurated the Pongal festival at the Vellore campus on Tuesday in a traditional way. He told students, "Pongal is the quintessential festival for Tamils who live in 160 countries." He added, "Tamils should always follow the principles like duty, dignity and discipline that E.V. Ramasamy Periyar and C.N. Annadurai propagated to make them successful in their lives." The event featured lively traditional art forms such as Bharatanatyam, Jikkaattam, and Silambattam performed by troupes. Pongal dish was prepared in a clay pot using rice, jaggery, pulses, cardamom, and cashew nuts, symbolizing the festival. The yearly celebration at VIT sees students, faculty, management, and staff taking part. It is organized by the Paavendhar Bharathidasan Tamil Literary Association and the VIT School of Agricultural Innovations and Advanced Learning. Students from many countries joined in wearing traditional clothes. During the event, Mr. Viswanathan released books on water management, millets, and agriculture in the presence of Sankar Viswanathan, VIT vice-president. These books, published by VIT, were handed to farmers to support their work.