It's Pongal today. For those who don't about it, Pongal is a festival celebrated in Tamil Nadu to thank the sun for a good harvest. Mostly it falls on 14 of January since it coincides with the first day of the month Thai in tamil calendar (the festival is celebrated on this day). It is a three day festival.
The first day is Bogi. The main objective for this day is to discard all the old and useless things and revamp the whole house.. ;) the house gets a new coat of paint. Theoretically, the old stuff should be burned but these days people just discard them.
The second day is the main festival which is the Pongal. On this day, early in the morning, a special dish called Pongal (a sweet dish after which the festival is named) is prepared with rice and jaggery and this is offered to the god. A mud pot, decorated with turmeric and kolams (geometric patterns), is used to prepare this and usually it's done in the open, in front of the house or sometimes (mostly in the villages) people get together at one common place and prepare it together.
The third day is Kaanum Pongal or Maattu Pongal which is mainly for the animals which are used for agriculture like bulls and cows (Maadu means cow in Tamil). The animals' horns are painted in bright colours and bells are hung from the tips of their horns and also the neck. They are then worshipped. This is the time of the year when families get together and celebrate.
And yeah, another important feature of Pongal is the kolam. Elaborate patterns are drawn in front of the house with rice flour and filled with vibrant colours (Kolams are also called Rangolis). The day before Pongal, one can see groups of girls sitting together and drawing the kolams. It's a separate and fun-filled activity which most girls have lot of fun doing (yours truly is no exception). The different types of kolams one can see is mind boggling. (When I have time I'll write a separate post on the intricacies involved in a kolam :))
This is what Pongal is supposed to be and that's how it happens in the villages where agriculture is the main occupation. Now talking about Pongal in cities, though the spirit of the festival remains the same, due to lack of space and also the nuclear families, it is celebreated in a different way. Here only the main Pongal (second day) is celebrated. Pongal is prepared in a pressure cooker. Apart from this people go to the temple and pray. The rest of the day is spent watching TV. :D The cable channels telecast special and not-to-be missed shows which includes interviews with film celebrities-often the same person in different channels, 'supposedly' box office blockbusters (which means these are utter flops) and various other dumb programs. (Excuse the sarcasm here).
There's much more about Pongal which I haven't written here for two reasons
- I dont want to make this a long and boring post with minute descriptions
2.I'm too lazy to write :D
Now off to helping mum in the kitchen (the battle lines have been drawn. If I dont go now, it'll be a big time assault on my conscience). Ciao.
