Thai Pongal (Tamil: taippongal) is a Tamil harvest festival. Thai Pongal is a four day festival which according to theGregorian calendar is normally celebrated from January 13 to January 16, but sometimes it is celebrated from January 14 to January 17. This corresponds to the last day of the Tamil month Maargazhi to the third day of the Tamil month Thai.
The day marks the start of the sun’s six-month-long journey northwards (the Uttarayanam). This also corresponds to the Indic solstice when the sun purportedly enters the 10th house of the Indian zodiac Makara or Capricorn. Thai Pongal is mainly celebrated to convey appreciation to the Sun God for providing the energy for agriculture. Part of the celebration is the boiling of the first rice of the season consecrated to the Sun – the Surya Maangalyam
History
The origins of the Thai Pongal festival may date to more than 5000 years ago.
Epigraphic evidence suggests the celebration of the Puthiyeedu during the Medieval Chola empire days. Puthiyeedu is believed to represent the first harvest of the year. Tamil people refer to Pongal as “Tamizhar Thirunaal,” the festival of Tamizhs.
Etymology
Thai refers to the name of the tenth month in the Tamil calendar, Thai (தை). Pongal usually means festivity or celebration;] more specifically Pongal is translated as “boiling over” or “overflow.” Pongal is also the name of a sweetened dish of rice boiled with lentils that is ritually consumed on this day. Symbolically, pongalsignifies the gradual heating of the earth as the Sun travels northward toward the equinox.
This day coincides with Makara Sankranthi which is celebrated throughout India.
Pongal dish
Besides rice and milk the ingredients of this sweet dish include cardamom, jaggery, raisins, Green gram (split), and cashew nuts. Cooking is done in sunlight, usually in a porch or courtyard, as the dish is dedicated to the Sun god, Surya. The cooking is done in a clay pot that is decorated with coloured patterns called kolam. Pongal has two variants, one sweet and one savoury. The dish is served on banana leaves.
Cooking pongal is a traditional practice at Hindu temples during any part of the Temple Festival in Tamil Nadu.
Days of the festival
Margazhi Kolam
Though rarely followed in cities, most vil lages in Tamil Nadu mark the arrival of Pongal festival a month before (Margazhi – mid December to mid January) by embellishing the floor space of their dwelling entrance with decorative patterns called Kolam – drawn using rice flour and different colour powders- by female members of the family on or before dawn. Traditionally dwellings are whitewashed with in the month of Margazhi to welcome the auspicious Thai Pongal.
Bhogi
The day preceding Pongal is called Bhogi. On this day people discard old belongings and celebrate new possessions. The disposal of worn-out items is similar to the traditions of Holika in North India. The people assemble at dawn in Tamil Nadu to light a bonfire in order to burn the discards. Houses are cleaned, painted and decorated to give a festive look. The horns of oxen and buffaloes are painted in villages. In Tamil Nadu, farmers place medicinal herbs (neem, avram, sankranti) in the northeast corner of each field to protect crops from diseases and pests.
Bhogi is also observed on the same day in Andhra Pradesh. In the ceremony called Bhogi Pallu, fruits of the harvest such as regi pallu and sugar cane are collected along with flowers of the season. Money is often placed into a mixture of treats and is poured over children. The children then separate and collect the money and sweet fruits.
This day is celebrated in Punjab as Lohri and in Assam as Magh Bihu / Bhogali Bihu.
Thai Pongal
The main event, also known as Thai Pongal, takes place on the second of the four days. This day coincides with Makara Sankranthi, a winter harvest festival celebrated throughout India. It marks the start of the Uttarayanam, the day of the sidereal solstice when the sun purportedly enters the 10th house of the Indian zodiac i.e. Makara or Capricorn.
In the Tamil language the word Pongal means “overflowing,” signifying abundance and prosperity.
During the festival milk is cooked in a vessel. When it starts to bubble and overflow out of the vessel, freshly harvested rice grains are added to the pot. At the same time other participants blow a conch called the sanggu and shout “Pongalo Pongal!”[ They also recite “Thai Pirandhal Vazhi Pirakkum” (“the commencement of Thai paves the way for new opportunities”). This is repeated frequently during the Pongal festival. The “pongal” is then served to everyone in the house along with savories and sweets such as vadai, murukku, paayasam.
Kolam drawn in front of houses
Tamils decorate their homes with banana and mango leaves and embellish the floor with decorative patterns drawn using rice flour.[3] kolams/rangolis are drawn on doorsteps. Family elders present gifts to the young.
Newly cooked rice and savouries prepped for celebrating pongal.
The Sun stands for “Pratyaksha Brahman” – the manifest God, who symbolizes the one, non-dual, self-effulgent, glorious divinity blessing one and all tirelessly. The Sun is the one who transcends time and also the one who rotates the proverbial wheel of time.
Maatu Pongal
Maatu Pongal is celebrated the day after Thai Pongal. Tamils regard cattle as sources of wealth for providing dairy products, fertilizer, and labor for plowing and transportation. On Maatu Pongal, cattle are recognized and afforded affectionately. Features of the day include games such as the Jallikkattu and taming wild bull.
Kanu Pidi is a tradition for women and young girls. During Kanu Pidi women feed birds and pray for their brothers’ well being. As part of the “Kaka pidi, Kanu pidi” feast women and girls place a feast of colored rice, cooked vegetables, banana and sweet pongal on ginger or turmeric leaves for crows to share and enjoy. During this time women offer prayers in the hope that brother-sister ties remain forever strong as they do in a crow family.[citation needed]
On this day celebrants bathe and decorate their cattle with garlands. Cows are decorated with manjalthanni (turmeric water) and oil. Shikakai apply kungumam (kumkum) to their foreheads, paint their horns, and feed them a mixture of venn pongal, jaggery, honey, banana and other fruits. In the evening people pray to Lord Ganesh. One ritual is to light a torch of coconut leaves and carry it around cattle three times and then run to the border of the village to drop it. This is believed to remove the evil influences caused by the jealousy of other people over the cattle.
Jallikattu
Jallikattu (Tamil: சல்லிகட்டு, callikaṭṭtu) also known Eruthazhuvuthal (Tamil: ஏறுதழுவல், ērutazhuval) or Manju viraṭṭu(Tamil: மஞ்சு விரட்டு), is a bull-vaulting sport played in Tamil Nadu as a part of Pongal celebrations on Mattu Pongal day. Bulls are bred specifically by some private rich persons of village also for the sporting event and attended mainly by many villages temple bull(kovil kaalai). Temple bull means it is like head of all cattles in the village, special poojas will be performed for this temple bull during important days.[1]
Jallikattu was a popular sport during the Tamil classical period.[2][3] It was common among the ancient tribes who lived in the ‘Mullai’ geographical division of the ancient Tamil country.[4] The sport often results in major injuries and deaths with over 200 deaths over the past two decades.[5] Animal activists and PETA India has protested against the sport over the years.[6]
In May 2014, the Supreme Court of India banned the sport citing animal welfare issues.[7] On 8 January, 2016, theGovernment of India passed an order exempting Jallikattu from all performances where bulls can not be used, effectively reversing the ban.
Kaanum Pongal
Kaanum Pongal, the fourth day of the festival, marks the end of Pongal festivities for the year. The word kaanum in this context means “to visit.” Many families hold reunions on this day. Brothers pay special tribute to their married sisters by giving gifts as affirmation of their filial love. Landlords present gifts of food, clothes and money to their tenants. Villagers visit relatives and friends while in the cities people flock to beaches and theme parks with their families. Celebrants chew sugar cane and again decorate their houses with kolam. Relatives and friends receive thanks for their assistance supporting the harvest.
In Andhra Pradesh, Mukkanuma, the final day of Sankranthi festival, is celebrated by worshiping cattle. Mukkanuma is famous among non-vegetarians. People do not eat non-vegetarian dishes during the first three days of the festival, saving them for the day of Mukkanuma.
Pongal is celebrated mostly in South India over four days, by farmers who give thanks to ‘Surya’, the Sun God and giver of life, for the blessings of a rich harvest.
New beginnings
In Singapore, Pongal is celebrated on the commencement of the auspicious month of Thai. On the first day, ‘Bhogi Pongal’, celebrations begin with worship of Lord Indra, the Ruler of Clouds and Giver of Rains. Thorough spring-cleaning as well as the discarding of old belongings is carried out to signify a fresh start.
Oil lamps are lit, new clothes are donned and colourful designs in rice flour are created on the floors of houses.
On the second day, ‘Surya Pongal’, the Sun God is honoured. Every household cooks a pot of rice with milk to offer up to Surya at dawn.
Pongal means to ‘overflow’, hence the pot of rice has to bubble over to symbolise prosperity and abundance. This is then served to members of the family as well as any visitors to the house. It is a very social period, as relatives and friends visit each other and exchange greetings.
The third day, called ‘Mattu Pongal’, is set aside to honour cattle – cows are sacred animals in the Hindu religion.
To remember the work they do, like ploughing the fields and providing milk, the cattle are scrubbed and their horns painted. Multi-coloured beads, tinkling bells and flower garlands are placed around their necks and they are fed special snacks as a treat.
The ties that bind
The last day, called ‘Kannum Pongal’, is all about the community and strengthening ties. Younger members seek the blessing of the older members of their families.
Landlords distribute clothes, food and money to their workers. Offerings are made at temples even as special prayers are conducted.
Infused with the earthy rhythms of agrarian life, Pongal offers visitors a peek into a rich culture and a way of life that has been celebrated in Southern India for centuries.
Did you know?
This is also a time where siblings reaffirm their special relationship. Brothers give their sisters gifts, while women offer prayers that their bond with their brothers will stay forever strong.
What’s Unique
A rich bounty
The term ‘pongu’, meaning ‘to boil over’ or ‘flourish’ in Tamil, is what gives the festival its name. That’s why you’ll see the important tradition of filling a new clay pot with milk and fresh rice, then adding ginger, turmeric, brown sugar, cashew nuts, raisins and ghee as it cooks. When it is brought to a boil and froths over, family members cry out “pongollo pongal”, which means “may this rice boil over” in Tamil, signifying a wish for overflowing fortunes.
