Thai
Pongal
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Pongal
marks the beginning of the northward journey of the Sun from its
southernmost-limit, a movement traditionally referred to as uttarayana.[4] It
coincides with the festival Makara Sankranthi celebrated throughout India as
the winter harvest,[5] and is usually held from January 13–16 in the Gregorian
calendar i.e. from the last day of the Tamil month Maargazhi to the third day
of Thai.[6] The second of the four days or the first day of month Thai is the
main day of the festival which is known as Pongal or Thai Pongal. This also
represents the Indic solstice when the sun purportedly enters the 10th house of
the Indian zodiac i.e. Makar or Capricorn.[6]
The
word pongal itself refers to the "boiling over" of milk and rice
during the month of Thai.[7] The saying "Thai Pirandhal Vazhi
Pirakkum" meaning "the commencement of Thai paves the way for new
opportunities" is often quoted regarding the Pongal festival.[6] Tamils
thank the Sun god (Surya) for the good harvest and consecrate the first grain
to him on this 'Surya Mangalyam'. Tamilians decorate their homes with banana
and mango leaves and embellish the floor with decorative patterns drawn using
rice flour.[2]
The
history may well be more than 1000 years old although some are of the view that
the festival is older than that. Epigraphic Evidence suggests the celebration
of the Puthiyeedu during the Medieval Chola empire days. It is thought that
Puthiyeedu meant the first harvest of the year.[8] The link between that fast
and today's harvest festival needs to be further researched. Tamils refer to
Pongal as "Tamizhar Thirunaal" (meaning "the festival of
Tamils")[9] Makara Sankranti in turn is referred to in the Surya
Siddhanta.
Thai
refers to the name of the tenth month in the Tamil calendar, Thai (தை).[4]
Pongal in Tamil generally refers to festivity;[10] more specifically Pongal
means "boiling over" or "overflow". The boiling for the
household.[4] Pongal is also the name of a sweetened dish of rice boiled with
lentils which is ritually consumed on this day.[5] Symbolically, pongal
signifies the warming i.e. boiling of the season as the Sun travels northward
towards the equinox.[4]
Pongal
dish
Besides
rice and milk the ingredients of the sweet dish Pongal dish include cardamom,
jaggery, raisins, mung dhal, 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 called kollam which is decorated with
coloured patterns. There are two versions of pongal, one sweet the other
salted. The prepared dish is served on banana leaves.[4]
Apart
from Pongal Day celebrations, cooking pongal is a traditional practice at Hindu
temples during any Temple Festival in Tamil Nadu. The community will convene to
cook pongal rice, partake of it and distribute it to those present.
Bhogi
Pandigai / Bhogi Pallu / Lohri /
The
day preceding Pongal is called Bhogi when people discard old things and focus
on new belongings. The disposal of derelict things is similar to Holika in
North India. The people assemble at dawn in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh to
light a bonfire to discard old used possessions. The house is cleaned, painted
and decorated to give a festive look. In villages, the horns of oxen and
buffaloes are painted in colors and in most rural parts of Andhra Pradesh
people celebrate it in a grand way as most of them would have their harvest
ready or even would have made money out of the harvests.
This
tradition is observed on the same day in Andhra Pradesh where it is also called
"Bhogi." The fruits from the harvest are collected (such as regi
pallu and sugar cane), along with flowers of the season, in a ceremony called
Bhogi Pallu Money is often placed into a mixture of Bhogi Pallu, and the
mixture is poured over children, who then collect the money and sweet fruits.
This
day is celebrated in Punjab as Lohri and in Assam as Magh Bihu / Bhogali Bihu.
Pongal
Pandigai
Pongal
itself falls on the first day of the Tamil month of Thai (January 14 or 15). It
is celebrated by boiling rice with fresh milk and jaggery in new clay pots. The
rice is later topped with sugar, ghee, cashew nuts and raisins. This tradition
gives Pongal its name.[6] The rice is traditionally cooked at sun rise.
The
moment the milk boils over and bubbles out of the vessel, the tradition is to
shout of "Pongalo Pongal!", introduce freshly harvested rice grains
in the pot and blow the sanggu (a conch). Tamils consider it a good sign to
watch the milk boil over as it connotes good luck and prosperity. The newly
cooked rice is traditionally offered to the Sun God at sunrise to demonstrate
gratitude for the harvest. It is later served to the people present in the
house for the ceremony. People prepare savories and sweets such as vadai,
murukku, paayasam, visit each other and exchange greetings.
Tamil
Nadu - celebrated as Thai Pongal
Andhra
Pradesh, Bengal, Kerala, Bihar, Goa, Karnataka, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh - celebrated as Makara Sankranthi
Gujarat
and Rajasthan celebrated as Uttarayana
Haryana,
Himachal Pradesh and Punjab - celebrated as Lohri
Assam
- celebrated as Magh Bihu or Bhogali Bihu
Nepal
- celebrated as Maghe Sankranti or Makar Sankranti
Tamils
draw kolams/rangolis on the door step, consume sugar cane, prepare sweetened
rice, milk and jaggery in new earthen pots and dedicate it to Sun God. The
family elders present gifts to the young. Elsewhere in India, there is kite
flying in Gujarat and Andhra, the Jahangir Dance in Punjab and the Ganga Sagar
Mela in Bengal. Millions of people immerse themselves in rivers in North India
and offer prayers to the Sun God - Suryan. People offer thousands of their
colorful oblations to the Sun in the form of beautiful kites.
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
Cattle
play an important role in the traditional Indian farmstead be it with regards
to the provision of dairy products, its use for ploughing and transport and its
provision of fertilizer. This explains the Tamil reference to cattle as wealth.
On the day after Pongal, cattle are felicitated. In rural Tamil Nadu,
adventurous games such as the Jallikkattu or taming the wild bull are features
of the day. Maattu Pongal is intended to demonstrate our recognition and
affection to cattle and decorate them with garlands, apply kungumam (kumkum) on
their foreheads and are feed with a mixture of venn pongal,
jaggery,honey,banana and other fruits
Kanu
Pidi is a tradition that the ladies and young girls of the house follow. Women
feed birds and pray for the well being of their brothers. Women of the family
place different kinds of coloured rice, cooked vegetables, banana and sweet
pongal on a ginger or turmeric leaf and invite the crows, which descend in
hordes to share and enjoy the "Kaka pidi, Kanu pidi" feast. Women
offer prayers in the hope that the brother-sister ties may remain forever
strong like the family of crows.
Maatu
pongal is a festival celebrated together by the villagers to thank the cows for
their favour in farming. People bathe their cattle and paint their horns with
colourful paints. In the evening people offer prayings to Lord Ganesh made out
of mud[clarification needed] and all the cattle of the village are gathered
together and are decorated with garland, manjalthanni (turmeric water) only for
cows, oil, shikakai, kumkum is applied on the forehead and fed with a mixture
of venn pongal, Jaggery, honey, fruits etc. At the people torch out of coconut
leaves and burn with fire and run around cattles thrice and run to the border
of the village and drop their,[clarification needed] this ritual is performed
to remove all Drishti[disambiguation needed].
Kaanum
Pongal
This
is a time for family reunions in Tamil Nadu. Falling on the third day of the
Pongal festivities, 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 workforce. During Kaanum Pongal (the word
kaanum means "to view"), people visit relatives and friends to enjoy
the festive season. In the cities this day is synonymous with people flocking
to beaches and theme parks to have a day out with their families. They also
chew sugar cane and decorate their houses with kolam. This day is a day to
thank relatives and friends for their support in the harvest. Although it
started as a farmers festival, today it has become a national festival for all
Tamils irrespective of their origins or even religion. It is as popular in
urban areas as is in rural areas.This festival also marks the end of the Pongal
festivities for the year.
In
Andhra Pradesh, Mukkanuma, the final day of Sankranthi festival, is celebrated
to worship cattle. Mukkanuma is famous among the non-vegetarians of the
society. People do not eat any non-vegetarian dishes during the first three
days of the festival and eat it only on the day of Mukkanuma.
An
office in Tamil Nadu decorated for the festival of Thai Pongal