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Pongal Festival - Fairs and Festivals in
India
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Pongal is a four days long
harvest festival celebrated in Tamil Nadu, a southern state of India.
For as long as people have been planting and gathering food, there has
been some form of harvest festival. Pongal, one of the most important
popular Hindu festivals of the year. This four-day festival of
thanksgiving to nature takes its name from the Tamil word meaning "to
boil" and is held in the month of Thai (January-February) during the
season when rice and other cereals, sugar-cane, and turmeric (an
essential ingredient in Tamil cooking) are harvested.
Mid-January is an important time in the Tamil calendar. The harvest
festival, Pongal, falls typically on the 14th or the 15th of January
and is the quintessential 'Tamil Festival'. Pongal is a harvest
festival, a traditional occasion for giving thanks to nature, for
celebrating the life cycles that give us grain. Tamilians say 'Thai
pirandhaal vazhi pirakkum', and believe that knotty family problems
will be solved with the advent of the Tamil month Thai that begins on
Pongal day. This is traditionally the month of weddings. This is not a
surprise in a largely agricultural community - the riches gained from
a good harvest form the economic basis for expensive family occasions
like weddings.
The Legend Behind The Celebrations
There are few interesting legends behind the Pongal celebrations. The
most popular among them related to the celebrations of the first day
of the Pongal festival goes like this - Lord Krishna lifted the
Govardhan Mountain on his little finger to shelter his people and save
them from being washed away by the rains and floods.
According to another the third day of Pongal is celebrated because
Lord Shiva once asked Nandi, his bull, to go to earth and deliver his
message to the people - to have an oil bath every day and food once a
month. But Nandi got it all mixed up when he delivered the message,
and told the people that Shiva asked them to have an oil bath once a
month and eat every day. Shiva was displeased, and told Nandi that
since the people would now need to grow more grain, Nandi would have
to remain on earth and help them plough the fields.
Mattu Pongal is also called "Kanu Pongal", and women pray for the
welfare of their brothers. This is similar to the festivals of Raksha
Bandhan some states of North India.
Rituals Followed
A typical traditional Pongal celebration has a number of rituals
attached to it. The place where the Pongal Puja is to be conducted is
cleaned and smeared with dung, a day prior to the festival. People
generally choose an open courtyard for this purpose.
'Kolams' (Rangoli) generally drawn with rice flour are special to the
occasion. The idea behind using rice flour is that the insects would
feed on it and bless the household. At the centre of it a lump of cow
dung holds a five-petal pumpkin flower, which is regarded as a symbol
of fertility and an offering of love to the presiding deity. In a
similar way the houses are also cleaned, painted and decorated. Kolams
(Rangoli) are made in the front yards of the houses and new clothes
for the whole family are bought to mark the festivities.
The Tempting Recipes
Sweet rice, known as "Pongal", is cooked in a new earthenware pot at
the same place where puja is to be performed. Fresh turmeric and
ginger are tied around this pot. Then a delicious concoction of rice,
Moong Dal, jaggery and milk are boiled in the pot on an open fire.
This Pongal, according to ritual, is allowed to boil and spill out of
the pot. Pongal, once ready, is offered to God first, on a new banana
leaf along with other traditional delicacies like Vadas, Payasam, etc.
Besides this, sugarcane, grain, sweet potatoes, etc are also offered
to the Sun God. |
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