Pongal Festival


About Pongal Festival

Pongal is one of the most popular harvest festival of South India,mainly Tamil Nadu. Pongal falls in the mid-January every year and marksthe auspicious beginning of Uttarayan - sun's journey northwards.Pongal festival lasts for four days. Celebrations include drawing ofKolam, swinging & cooking of delicious Pongal.

Bogi Festival

Bogi festival or Bhogi is the first day of Pongal and is celebratedin honor of Lord Indra, "the God of Clouds and Rains". Lord Indra isworshiped for the abundance of harvest, thereby bringing plenty andprosperity to the land. Thus, this day is also known as Indran. OnBhogi all people clean out their homes from top to bottom, and collectall unwanted goods. This day is meant for domestic activities and ofbeing together with the family members.

All the houses from the richest to the humblest are thoroughlyscrubbed and whitewashed. Homes are cleaned and decorated with "Kolam"- floor designs drawn in the white paste of newly harvested rice withoutlines of red mud. Often pumpkin flowers are set into cow-dung ballsand placed among the patterns. Fresh harvest of rice, turmeric andsugarcane is brought in from the field as preparation for the followingday.


Puja

A special puja is performed on the first day of Pongal before thecutting of paddy. Farmers worship the sun and the earth by anointingtheir ploughs and sickles with sandalwood paste. It is with theseconsecrated tools that the newly-harvested rice is cut.

The Bonfire

Another ritual observed on this day is Bhogi Mantalu, when useless household articles are thrown into a fire
made of wood and cow-dung cakes. Girls dance around the bonfire,singing songs in praise of the gods, the spring and the harvest. Thesignificance of the bonfire, in which is burnt the agricultural wastesand firewood is to keep warm during the last lap of winter.

In Andhra Pradesh this day is celebrated by girls burning their oldclothes and wearing the new ones after an oil massage and bath. Thenfollows Pongal Panai, a ritual in which new earthenware pots arepainted and decorated with turmeric, flowers and mango leaves.

Surya Pongal


The second day of Pongal is known as `Surya Pongal' and is dedicatedto the Sun God. It is the day on which the celebration actually beginsand is also the first day of the Tamil month Thai. On this day thegranaries are full, the sun shines brightly, trees are in full bloom,bird-songs resound in the air and hearts overflow with happiness thatget translated into colorful and joyous celebrations.

Puja Preparation

Women wake early on this day to create elaborate `kolam' on thegrounds in front of their doorway or home. Kolam is created withcolored rice flour placed on the ground carefully by using one's hand.The women take several hours to finish the kolum. On this day the newrice is collected and cooked in pots until they over flow. It is thisoverflowing which means Pongal. This overflowing of rice is a joyousoccasion, and the children and adults as well will shout out`Pongal-o-Pongal!'

Surya Pongal Puja Process

The Sun God is offered boiled milk and jaggery. A plank is placed onthe ground, a large image of the Sun God is sketched on it and Kolamdesigns are drawn around it. In the centre of the plank is drawn alarge figure of the Sun God with his effulgent rays. The "Puja" of theSun God starts after the auspicious moment of the birth of the newmonth Thai. Prayers are rendered to the Sun God to seek hisbenedictions.

The Sun God is given pride of place during Pongal. In the villages,people gather in the courtyard and prepare the Pongal in the open. Thepot in which the Pongal is cooked is decorated with flowers, sugarcanepieces, turmeric plant etc. The first offering is made to the Sun.

Surya Pongal Delicacies

The rice is cooked and prepared as a dish called Pongal, which isrice with dhal and sugar. This Pongal variety is called venpongal, venmeaning white. Another variety is also prepared with dhal and jaggery(sweet), called chakra pongal, chakrai meaning sweet. To accompany thevenpongal, people eat brinjal (eggplant) sambar (stew), vadai, idli andspicy accompaniments.

Sweets, puddings, cooked rice or `Sarkarai Pongal' are prepared onthis day. On all the three days of Bhogi, Pongal and Maattu Pongal,women adorn the entrance of their houses with colorful kolams. Largepatterns, decorated with colorful flowers and powders are drawn,crowding the entire street.

Mattu Pongal


The third day of Pongal is dedicated to cattle and is called MattuPongal. People offer prayers to the bulls, cows and other farm animals.Cows and bulls have always held a special place in India. Cows givenourishing milk while bulls and oxen help plough the fields. Thus,Maatu Pongal is a day when cattle are given a well deserved day of restand are given pride of place. Therefore the farmers honor their cattlefriends by celebrating it as a day of thanks-giving to them.

Legend

On this day, Lord Ganesh and Goddess Parvati are worshiped andPongal is offered to them in the `puja'. According to a legend, onceShiva asked his bull, Basava, to go to the earth and ask the mortals tohave an oil massage and bath every day and to eat once a month.Inadvertently, Basava announced that everyone should eat daily and havean oil bath once a month. This mistake enraged Shiva who then cursedBasava, banishing him to live on the earth forever. He would have toplough the fields and help people produce more food. Thus theassociation of this day with cattle.

Puja Process

The cattle are washed, their horns are painted and covered withshining metal caps. Multi-colored beads, tinkling bells, sheaves ofcorn and flower garlands are tied around their necks. They are fed withPongal and taken to the village centres. Devotees pay their respect tocows by bending down, like praying in temple, and touching their feetand foreheads, followed by an aarthi (showing fire to the object ofpraise) and offering the cattle prasadam (food offering, in this case,Pongal).

Jallikattu - A Bull Festival

A festival called Jallikattu is held in Madurai, Tiruchirapalli andTanjavur on this day. Bundles of money are tied to the horns offerocious bulls which the villagers try to retrieve. Everyone joins inthe community meal, at which the food is made of the freshly harvestedgrain. This day is named and celebrated as Tamizhar Tirunal in afitting manner throughout Tamil Nadu.

Thiruvalluvar Day / Kanum Pongal


The fourth day of the three-day Pongal celebrations is called KaanumPongal. In few places this day is also known as Karinaal orThiruvalluvar Day. It is dedicated to the sun god, Surya and has itsroots in ancient Brahminical tradition. Since Pongal is a rural,agrarian based festival that celebrates the harvests, the sun is avital part of the proceedings. This is because the Sun is the symbol oflife on Earth. Without the Sun, crops cannot sprout and grow. Withoutthe Sun, harvests will not be plentiful.