Pongal - 15th January, 2023 to 18 Jan 2023 | History | Traditions | Download Images, Pictures, Wallpapers, Wishes and Quotes
About Pongal
The Pongal is the most important state festival of Tamil Nadu. Tamil people celebrate the day with great devotion and myth. Pongal is also referred to as Thai Pongal also spelt Tai Pongal, is a multi-day Hindu harvest festival of South India, particularly in the Tamil community.
It is observed at the beginning of the month Tai consistent Tamil calendar, and this is often typically about January 14. It is dedicated to the Hindu sun god, the Surya, and correlated to Makar Sankranti, the harvest festival under many regional names celebrated all over in India.
The four days of the Pongal festival are called Bhogi Pongal, Surya Pongal, kaanum Pongal and Maattu Pongal. It signifies the overflowing of prosperity. It also shows the love in between nature and human for one other. In short, the word denotes to boil and also it's the name of one sweetened dish during which the rice is cooked with lentils along with the milk.
If the human makes good thought and action in return, they will get a good harvest with nature. unity of nature and human signifies the Pongal celebration. The festival is celebrated in the Uttarayanam period.
It is celebrated by Tamil people in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in India. It is also a significant Tamil festival in Sri Lanka. It is observed by the Tamil diaspora around the world, including those in Malaysia, Mauritius, South Africa, Singapore, United States, United Kingdom, and Canada.
History of the festival
The Pongal festival is mentioned in an engraving in the Viraraghava temple dedicated to Vishnu. Credited to the Chola lord Kulottunga, the engraving describes a grant of land to the temple for celebrating the annual Pongal festivities. commonly, the 9th-century Shiva bhakti text Tiruvembavai by Manikkavachakar make reference to the festival.
According to Andrea Gutierrez – a scholar of Sanskrit and Tamil traditions, the history of the Pongal dish in a festive and religious context can be followed to at least the Chola period. It shows up in various writings and engravings with variant spellings. In early records, it shows up as ponakam, tiruponakam, ponkal and similar terms.
Some of the major Hindu temple inscriptions from Chola Dynasty to Vijayanagara Empire periods include detailed recipe which is basically the same as the Pongal recipes of the modern era, but for the variations in seasonings and relative measures of the ingredients.
Pongal dish
The festival's most remarkable practice is the preparation of the traditional Pongal dish. It uses freshly harvested rice and is prepared by boiling it in milk and raw cane sugar. On occasionally additional ingredients are added to the sweet dish, such as cardamom, raisins, Green gram, and cashew nuts. Other ingredients include coconut and ghee.
Along with the sweet version of the Pongal dish, some prepare different versions such as salty and savoury. In some communities, women take their cooking pots to the town place, or the main square, or near a temple of their choice or simply in front of their own home and cook all together as a social event, states Gutierrez.
The cooking is done in daylight, usually in a porch or courtyard, as the dish is dedicated to the Sun god, Surya. Relatives and friends are invited, and the welcome greeting on the Pongal day commonly is, "has the rice boiled"?
The cooking is done in a clay pot that is often decorated with leaves or blossoms, sometimes tied with a piece of turmeric root or marked with pattern art called kolam. It is mostly cooked at home, or in community gatherings such as in the village, temple and in open spaces.
It is the ritual dish, along with many other courses prepared from seasonal foods for all present. It is traditionally offered to the gods and goddesses first, followed sometimes by cows, then to friends and family gathered.
Temples and communities organize free kitchen arranged by volunteers to all those who gather. According to Andre Bateille, this tradition is a means to renew social bonds. Portions of the sweet Pongal dish are distributed as the prasadam in Hindu temples.
According to Anthony Good, the dish and the process of making it is a part of the symbolism, both conceptually and materially. It celebrates the harvest, the cooking changes the gift of agriculture into nourishment for the gods and the community on a day that Tamil's generally accept marks the end of the winter solstice and starts the sun god's journey north. The blessing and prosperity by Goddess Pongal are symbolically marked by the dish "boiling over.
Days of the festival
The festival is observed for four days in Tamil Nadu, but one or two days in urban locations particularly in the Tamil diaspora community outside South Asia.
Bhogi Pongal- The Pongal festival starts on the day called Bhogi Pongal, and it denotes the last day of the Tamil month Marghazi. On this day people dispose of old belongings and celebrate new belongings.
The individuals assemble and light a bonfire in order to burn the heaps of discards. Houses are cleaned, painted and decorated to give a festive look. The horns of wild oxen and buffaloes are painted in villages. New garments are worn to mark the start of the celebration.
Surya Pongal- Surya Pongal also called Suryan Pongal or Perum Pongal – is the second and main festive day, and is dedicated to the Hindu god Surya. It is the first day of the Tamil calendar month Tai, and coincides with Makara Sankranthi – a winter harvest festival celebrated all through India.
The day denotes the beginning of the Uttarayana when the sun goes into the 10th house of the zodiac Makara. The day is celebrated with family and friends, with the Pongal dish prepared in a traditional earthen pot in an open space in the view of the sun. The pot is typically decorated by tying a turmeric plant or flower garland, and near the cooking, the stove is placed two or more tall fresh sugarcane stalks.
Mattu Pongal
Mattu Pongal is celebrated the day after Surya Pongal. Mattu refers to "cow, bullock, cattle", and Tamil Hindus view cow as sources of wealth for giving dairy products, fertilizer, transportation and agricultural aid. On Mattu Pongal, cattle are decorated – sometimes with blossoms garlands or painted horns, they are offered bananas, a special meal and worshipped.
Kaanum Pongal
Kaanum Pongal or Kanum Pongal, sometimes called the Kanu Pongal, the fourth day of the festival, denotes the end of Pongal festivities for the year. The word kanum in this context means to visit. Many families hold reunions on this day. Communities organize get-togethers to strengthen mutual bonds.
Residents cut and consume farm-fresh sugarcane during social gatherings. Relatives, friends and neighbours visit to greet, while youngsters go out to meet seniors among the family member and neighbourhoods to pay respects and seek blessings, while a few elders give the visiting children some pocket change as a gift.
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Pongal - 15th January, 2023 to 18 Jan 2023 | History | Traditions | Download Images, Pictures, Wallpapers, Wishes and Quotes
Reviewed by 365 Festivals
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May 04, 2022
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Reviewed by 365 Festivals
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May 04, 2022
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