Pongal (Poṅkal பொங்கல்)
January 15, 2024
Rohit Kumar Parmar [1]
Pongal (Makar Sankranti) is celebrated for four days in Tamil Nadu, parts of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Pondicherry; and in Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka; and by the Tamil diaspora. It is celebrated on the first of the Thai month of the Tamil (Tamizh) solar calendar. [2] This is one of the few festivals which falls on the same date every year, on January 14 on most years and broadly on January 15 in leap years. [3] Pongal marks the end of winter/solstice, and the start of the sun's six-month-long journey northwards, [4] with the sun entering the zodiac Makara (Capricorn).
Pongal means `spilling over’ and the festival is named after the tradition of boiling followed by `spilling over’, of freshly-harvested rice in a new clay pot along with milk and jaggery. The Pongal (spilling over) call is enquiring as to whether the blend of rice and milk has boiled over.
Pongal, a dish consisting of rice, milk, and jaggery with ghee, sugar, raisins, and cashews is first served to Sun God, as gratitude for an excellent harvest. It is later served on banana leaves to members of the community. Pongal is cooked at sunrise, and in an open space. [5]
Farmers observe this celebration as gratitude to sun god and nature. They also give sumptuous meals/food to cows, bullocks and other cattle.
On the first day of Pongal ‘Bhogi Pandigai’, people clean their homes, discard unused and redundant items, and light a fire of the discarded items. After cleaning, the houses are decorated with 'kolams' made of rice flour paste and red mud.
The second day of festivities, are Thai (Surya) Pongal, considered the most auspicious day, coinciding with Makar Sankranti.
Thai Pongal is followed by Mattu (cow) Pongal, which is then followed by Kaanum (to see) Pongal.
On Thai Pongal, cows and oxen are given a bath and decorated with ornaments. Jallikattu (Bull fights) are also organized.
Kaappu Kattu, a tradition of tying neem (and other) leaves, with medicinal qualities on the roofs of houses and in residential areas is practiced in Kongu Nadu (western parts of Tamil Nadu).
Festive celebrations include decorating cows and their horns, ritual bathing and processions. It is traditionally an occasion for decorating entrance of the house with rice-powder based kolam art, offering prayers at home, in temples, getting together with family and friends, and exchanging gifts to renew social bonds of solidarity.
[1] Author, Freelance, Indian Economic Service (Retired), former Senior Economic Adviser, Government of India, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and former Adviser (P 4) UNDP, Yemen has in posts
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[2] Please note that the Vikram is a lunar calendar, and the Tamil Calendar is a solar calendar.
[3] The dates of Pongal in January, over five years are - 2020 (15), 2021 (14), 2022 (14), 2023 (15), 2024 (15), and 2025 (14).
[4] The earth moves around the Sun, which is static compared to Earth. However, due to the axial tilt of the earth, during the six months commencing December 21, Sun/shine becomes stronger in the northern hemisphere, so the metaphor that Sun moves to the northern hemisphere.
[5] Atukul Pongal celebrated in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala in the compound/outside the Attukal Bhagavathy temple, also has pots boiling with milk and rice, fuelled with wood. https://rohitkparmar.wixsite.com/site/post/attukal-pongala-07-03-2023-rohit-kumar-parmar
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