Thai Pongal is one of the most important festivals celebrated by Tamilians. A harvest festival, it is a four-day festival according to the Tamil calendar is normally celebrated from January 14 to January 17. A day after the Thai Pongal, Tamils celebrate Mattu Pongal, wherein cattle are recognised and afforded affectionately, and it includes games such as Jallikattu. The game has recently come under a lot of scrutiny, and saw a government ban on the sport. We decided to take a trip down to South India, and document the celebration of the festival in Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu is largely agricultural community where the riches gained from a good harvest gives the economic support to families. The celebration is about the agriculture that happens in Tamil Nadu. It’s about four days of harvest fest, and the festival is celebrated grandly by farmers. This is the month where many essential ingredients in Tamil cooking are harvested.
Pongal is also the name of a dish which is sweet in taste, and is made on the special day. It’s a happiest celebration of farmers and the people who own cattle. The first day of the celebration and the month is called as Thai Thirunal.
MATTU PONGAL (THE PONGAL CELEBRATION FOR COWS)
Families celebrate with small games such as kola pooti (rangoli) and distribute gifts to the winners of the game. The family members make rangoli outside their house, or in the backyard where the cattle is.
The cow is dressed like a bride on the pongal day and adorned with beautiful ornaments and decorations. The people of believe that the cow is god of the home and the farmers, they stick the god pictures on the cow and make it look fancy and beautiful. They dress the cow to resemble Kaamadhenu (known as a divine bovine-goddess described in Hinduism as the mother of all cows) The milk of the cow is poured on an idol of lord Shiva through a tube from a milk contained bottle. After the cow is ready they bring all the people to praise and do the worshiping.
HOW IS IT CELEBRATED?
People invite all their relatives to fill their home with joy and soundness, and you can see smiles all over the period of the festival. In the villages of interior Madurai and few places in Tamil Nadu, people gather to the nearby temple to worship and celebrate by boiling their pot of pongal with the other people and families. This time we visited the place in Madurai Alanganallur Munniandi temple for the celebration of pongal.
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