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631555

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Posted: 11 years ago

Pongal is a traditional harvest festival, which signals
the end of the traditional farming season. A Feast for farmers to share their crops and thank the God of Sun, The earth and the cattle for the bountiful harvest. Ponggal comes from the word Ponga which means boil or boil over.

Pongal marks the start of the auspicious month of Thai, a time where Tamil Indians give thanks for the blessings of the past year. The term Pongal also refers to the sweetened rice porridge which is normally cooked on Pongal day. This Pongal rice has an important meaning to the Indian community. If it boils well, the family can look forward to happiness and blessing, and a good year

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.

Edited by hopper_ocean - 11 years ago

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krithika

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Posted: 11 years ago

Eve Of Pongal Celebration of Bhogi Festival

The Eve of Pongal is celebrated as Bhogi festival in honor of Lord Indra,
the supreme ruler of clouds that give rains. Homage is paid to Lord
Indra for the abundance of harvest, thereby bringing plenty and
prosperity to the land. Another ritual observed on this day is Bhogi
Mantalu, when useless household articles are thrown into a fire made of
wood and cow-dung cakes. Girls dance around the bonfire, singing songs
in praise of the gods, the spring and the harvest. The significance of
the bonfire, in which is burnt the agricultural wastes and firewood is
to keep warm during the last lap of winter.

Thai Ponggal

On the First day of Pongal, the puja or act of ceremonial worship is
performed when rice is boiled in milk outdoors in a earthenware pot and
is thensymbolically offered to the sun-god along with other oblations.
All people wear traditional dress and markings, and their is an
interesting ritual where husband and wife
dispose off elegant ritual utensils specially used for the puja. In the village, Pongal ceremony is carried out more simply but with
the same devotion. In accordance with the appointed ritual
a turmeric plant is tied around the pot in which the rice will be boiled.
The offerings include the two sticks of sugar-cane in
background and coconut and bananas in the dish.
A common feature of the puja, in addition to the offerings,
is the kolam, the auspicious design which is traditionally traced
in white lime powder before the house in the early morning after bathing

Mattu Pongal

The third day is known as Mattu Pongal, the day of Pongal for cows.

Multi-colored beads, tinkling bells, sheaves of corn and flower garlands
are tied around the neck of the cattle and then are worshiped.
They are fed with Pongal and taken to the village centers.
The resounding of their bells attract the villagers as
the young men race each other's cattle. The entire atmosphere
becomes festive and full of fun and revelry. Arati is performed
on them, so as to ward off the evil eye.
According to a legend, once Shiva asked his bull, Basava, to go to the
earth and ask the mortals to have an oil massage and bath every day and
to eat once a month. Inadvertently, Basava announced that everyone
should eat daily and have an oil bath once a month. This mistake enraged
Shiva who then cursed Basava, banishing him to live on the earth
forever. He would have to plough the fields and help people produce more
food. Thus the association of this day with cattle.

KANUM PONGAL

The fourth day of the three-day Pongal celebrations is called Kaanum Pongal. In few places this day is also known as Karinaal or Thiruvalluvar Day. It is dedicated to the sun god, Surya and has its roots in ancient Brahminical tradition. Since Pongal is a rural, agrarian based festival that celebrates the harvests, the sun is a vital part of the proceedings. This is because the Sun is the symbol of life on Earth. Without the Sun, crops cannot sprout and grow. Without the Sun, harvests will not be plentiful.

Edited by krithikas - 11 years ago

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555200

Inactive

Posted: 11 years ago

Happy Pongal to all our members 🤗
Continue to Join us to in kalakal ponga and have fun 😳

Pongal Virunthu!

https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/topic/3388225

and more coming.. keep checking for more links 😛

Hope this festival marks the beginning of a harvest season, that is happy and cheerful and one which brings with it good luck and prosperity for always. Greetings on Pongal

Warm thoughts reach out, to all those who are held dear, as the auspicious festival that marks the beginning of the harvest season, draws near. As the festival of Pongal is here, hoping it ushers in good days, that are filled with happiness and cheer, and the fervor it symbolizes, stays with you throughout the year.
With best wishes.

Udal kalaipu udaluku mattum Mandirku endrum thevai inipu
Adai inaipadu thaan pongalin sirapu Iniya pongal nalvazhthukal
Iniya pongal nalvazhthukal