Tamils1 all over the world celebrate the harvest festival of PONGAL during the month of January. Pongal2 is a four-day festival traditionally celebrated in the southeastern part of India and in Sri Lanka. This festival pays tributes to the Sun and to the cattle that help farmers in their livelihood. Owing to cultural diversity within the Tamil community, each day of the festival comes with its own flavor in each region of the contemporary Tamil heartland! After the hectic northeast monsoon rains in the southern part of India, crops are ready for harvest by January. Sunny skies and anticipation of a bountiful harvest keep peasants in a right mood to indulge in a long celebration.

A three day harvest festival. The first day is confined to domestic festivities, and on the second day rice cooked in milk is offered to the Sun God. On the third day the cattles are washed, their horns painted and decorated. They are then fed with the rice offered to the Sun God. Festivities involve bull-fights and snatching bags of money tied between the horns of ferocious bulls.

A picture of the chariot is drawn in an open space when the sun arrives. And a small sun is drawn at the center of the chariot. We place turmeric sprigs and sugarcane in the pooja, and pooja is done onto the chariot. Then the dishes are offered to God. Once the pooja is over, everyone in the house takes a small amount of Pongal and sprinkles all over the house. Pongal is a festival when god is praised with a simple faith and honesty. Old vices are all washed out and all that is good is welcomed in this New Year. In Karnataka, this festival is called as " Sankranti". For this reason it is a great diversity of Indian religious, so celebrate this events with your favorite site rumela.