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Pongal Celebrations
Celebrated on January 14th
Pongal, an
important festival is celebrated all over the South as Makar
Sankranti, in Tamil Nadu it has an additional significance as
Pongal welcomes the occasion of the incoming harvest. In North
India, it is known as Sankaranthi. Pongal is the only festival
of Hindu that follows a solar calendar and is celebrated on the
fourteenth of January every year.
Pongal is a harvest festival, the Tamil equivalent of
Thanksgiving. The word Pongal comes from Pongu (Boiling over). A
dish with new rice, dal, jaggery, dry fruits, sugar and milk is
cooked in a new clay pot in the open and allowed to boil over,
signifying plenty and prosperity for the year ahead. This is
offered to the Sun God and partaken as prasad. It is celebrated
on the winter solstice, when, according to the traditional Hindu
system of reckoning, the Sun, having reached its southernmost
point, turns to the north again and reenters the sign of makara
(Capricorn). People pray to the Sun God on this occasion. The
sun is very powerful and helps in the growth of the paddy and
other plantations. So this festival is very important for
farmers and so it is celebrated in a grand manner in villages.
The farmer cultivating his land depends on cattle, timely rain
and the Sun. Once a year, he expresses his gratitude to these
during the harvest festival. With the end of the wet month of
Margazhi (mid December to mid January) the new Tamil month of
Thai heralds a series of festivals. The first day of this month
is a festival day known as " Pongal Day".
Pongal signals the end of the traditional farming season, giving
farmers a break from their monotonous routine. Farmers also
perform puja to some crops, signaling the end of the traditional
farming season. It also sets the pace for a series of festivals
to follow in a calendar year. In fact, four festivals are
celebrated in Tamil Nadu for four consecutive days in that week.
'Bogi' is celebrated on January 13, 'Pongal' on Jan 14, 'Maattuppongal'
on Jan 15, and 'Thiruvalluvar Day' on Jan 16. In Hindu temples
bells, drums, clarinets and conch shells herald the joyous
occasion of Pongal. To symbolize a bountiful harvest, rice is
cooked in new pots until they boil over. Some of the rituals
performed in the temple include the preparation of rice, the
chanting of prayers and the offering of vegetables, sugar cane
and spices to the gods. Devotees then consume the offerings to
exonerate themselves of past sins.
Pongal in South India is one such festival with so much
exuberance that people and animals join in the fun. The house is
cleaned, and all maintanance jobs are done before this festival.
During the four day festival, different varieties of Rangoli are
drawn in front of the houses early in the morning. |
