THAI PONGAL Ysabel Deborah

WHAT IS PONGAL? A harvest festival

celebrated by Tamil people at the end of the harvest season

It is a four-day festival generally from January 13 to January 16

Thai Pongal is primarily celebrated to convey appreciation and thankfulness to the Sun as the primary energy source of agriculture and good harvests. It is one of the most important festivals celebrated by Tamil people in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka

WHAT DOES PONGAL MEAN?

In Tamil, the word pongal means "overflowing" and signifies abundance and prosperity. On the day of Pongal, there is a symbolic ritual of boiling fresh milk in a new clay pot at sunrise. When the milk boils over and bubbles out of the vessel, people shout "Pongalo Pongal!“

BHOGI PANDIGAI 1ST DAY

The first day of Thai Pongal.

On this day, people discard old things and focus on new belongings.

People assemble to light a bonfire and discard old and used possessions.

Houses are cleaned, painted and decorated for a festive look.

PONGAL PANDIGAI2ND DAY

The second day of Thai Pongal is the main day of the festival and eponymously named Pongal. It falls on the first day of the Tamil month of Thai and usually on either January 14 or 15.

It is celebrated by preparing a sweet dish of boiling rice, also known as "pongal", in new clay pots. The dish is traditionally cooked at sunrise, and the rice is later topped with sugar, ghee, cashew nuts and raisins.

The moment the milk boils over and bubbles out of the vessel, the tradition is to shout "Pongalo Pongal!", add freshly harvested rice grains in the pot. Tamils consider it a good sign to watch the milk boil over as it connotes good luck and prosperity.

PONGAL DISH

People also prepare savories and sweets such as vadai, murukku, and paayasam, visit each other, and exchange greetings.

KOLAM/ RANGOLI

Tamils draw kolam or rangoli on their door steps, consume sugar cane, prepare sweetened rice, milk and jaggery in new earthen pots and dedicate their work to the sun god. Elders in the family present gifts to the young

MAATTU PONGAL3RD DAY

The third day of Tamil Pongal is called Maattu Pongal and is a day intended to celebrate cattle and thank them for their favour in farming.

People bathe their cattle, paint their horns with colorful paints, decorate them with garlands and place kumkum on their foreheads.

The cattle are fed a mixture of venn pongal, jaggery, honey, bananas, and other fruits. In rural Tamil Nadu, adventurous games such as "Jallikkattu" or "taming the wild bull" are features of the day.

The women then pray for the well being of their brothers and for their brother-sister ties to remain forever strong like the family of crows.

KANNUM PONGAL 4TH DAY

Family reunionVisiting family members and friendsBrother attribution towards sisters

THANK YOU!

WORKS CITED

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_Pongal

http://www.pongalfestival.org/the-harvest-festival.html

Sachchidananda; Prasad, R. R. (1996). Encyclopaedic profile of Indian tribes. Discovery Publishing House. p. 183. ISBN 978-81-7141-298-3. Retrieved 3

January 2012.