Also known as: Thai Pongal, Bhogi, Mattu Pongal, Kaanum Pongal, Thai Thirunal · Observed: Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Sri Lanka and Tamil communities worldwide
Significance of Pongal
Pongal is the great harvest festival of the Tamil people, celebrated at the start of the solar month of Thai, when the Sun enters sidereal Makara. The word pongal means to boil over, and the overflowing of new rice cooked in milk symbolises abundance and the hope that the household will overflow with prosperity. A Tamil saying, 'Thai pirandhal vazhi pirakkum', meaning when Thai is born a way will open, expresses the optimism of the season.
The festival thanks the Sun for the harvest, the rains for the crops and the cattle for their labour, and gathers families and villages together for four days.
The Four Days of Pongal
Bhogi, the last day of Margazhi, is dedicated to Indra, the god of rain. Families clean their homes, discard old belongings and burn them in a bonfire at dawn, symbolising a fresh start. Homes are whitewashed and decorated with kolam and mango-leaf torans.
Thai Pongal, the main day, falls on the first of Thai. In the courtyard, or facing the Sun, new rice is cooked with milk and jaggery in a new clay or brass pot tied with turmeric and ginger plants. When the milk boils over, the family shouts 'Pongalo Pongal!' and blows conches. The sweet pongal is offered to Surya with sugarcane, bananas and other produce, and then shared.
Mattu Pongal, the third day, honours the cattle. Cows and bullocks are bathed, their horns painted and capped, and they are garlanded and fed pongal. In some districts, Jallikattu, the traditional bull-taming sport, is held. Kaanum Pongal, the fourth day, is for visiting relatives and outings; women offer kanu pidi, small balls of coloured rice, to birds, praying for the welfare of their brothers.
Food and Customs
Two kinds of pongal are prepared: sakkarai pongal, sweet with jaggery, ghee, cardamom and cashews, and ven pongal, savoury with pepper, cumin and ghee. Sugarcane is chewed by all, and a full meal of vegetables from the new harvest is served. Elaborate kolams are drawn at each door, often depicting the overflowing pot, the Sun and sugarcane.
How the Date Is Determined
Thai Pongal is the first day of the Tamil solar month Thai, which begins when the Sun enters sidereal Makara, the same event as Makar Sankranti. Tamil almanacs apply the rule that if the transit takes place before sunset, that day is the first of Thai; if after sunset, the following day is. Bhogi is the day before, and Mattu Pongal and Kaanum Pongal follow on the second and third days of Thai.
Rituals and customs
- Bhogi bonfire of old belongings at dawn
- Boiling new rice in milk until it overflows
- Offering sakkarai pongal and sugarcane to the Sun
- Decorating and worshipping cattle on Mattu Pongal
- Kanu pidi offerings to birds on Kaanum Pongal
- Large kolams and family visits