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.
|