About Pongal

Pongal in South India is one such festival with so much exuberance that people and animals join in the fun. The word Pongal comes from Pongu (Boiling over). A dish with new rice, dal, jaggery, dry fruits, sugar and milk is cooked in a new clay pot in the open and allowed to boil over, signifying plenty and prosperity for the year ahead. This is offered to the Sun God and partaken as prasad.

Pongal is much bigger than Diwali and is next only to Dassera. It is actually a three-day festival, with Bhogi coming on January 13, Pongal on 14 and Kanumu on 15 every year, unlike many other festivals that occur on a different day each year. Basically a festival to celebrate the harvest, it is also a day when families come together and enjoy the happiness of a good life.

First day is celebrated as Bhogi festival in honor of Lord Indra, the supreme ruler of clouds that give rains. Homage is paid to Lord Indra for the abundance of harvest, thereby bringing plenty and prosperity to the land. Another ritual observed on this day is Bhogi Mantalu, when useless household articles are thrown into a fire made of wood and cow-dung cakes. Girls dance around the bonfire, singing songs in praise of the gods, the spring and the harvest. The significance of the bonfire, in which is burnt the agricultural wastes and firewood is to keep warm during the last lap of winter.

On the second day of Pongal, the puja or act of ceremonial worship is performed when rice is boiled in milk outdoors in a earthenware pot and is then symbolically offered to the sun-god along with other oblations. All people wear traditional dress and markings, and their is an interesting ritual where husband and wife dispose off elegant ritual utensils specially used for the puja. In the village, the Pongal ceremony is carried out more simply but with the same devotion. In accordance with the appointed ritual a turmeric plant is tied around the pot in which the rice will be boiled. The offerings include the two sticks of sugar-cane in background and coconut and bananas in the dish. A common feature of the puja, in addition to the offerings, is the kolam, the auspicious design which is traditionally traced in white lime powder before the house in the early morning after bathing.

The third day is known as Mattu Pongal, the day of Pongal for cows. Multi-colored beads, tinkling bells, sheaves of corn and flower garlands are tied around the neck of the cattle and then are worshiped. They are fed with Pongal and taken to the village centers. The resounding of their bells attract the villagers as the young men race each other's cattle. The entire atmosphere becomes festive and full of fun and revelry.

Arati is performed on them, so as to ward off the evil eye. According to a legend, once Shiva asked his bull, Basava, to go to the earth and ask the mortals to have an oil massage and bath every day and to eat once a month. Inadvertently, Basava announced that everyone should eat daily and have an oil bath once a month. This mistake enraged Shiva who then cursed Basava, banishing him to live on the earth forever. He would have to plough the fields and help people produce more food. Thus the association of this day with cattle.

The Fourth day is Kanumu is also called as Mattu Pongal, when the cattle and especially the cows are worshipped. Cow is the harbinger of prosperity through milk and working in the fields along with the bulls. They are painted and decorated with bells, seashells, and beads. They are garlanded and taken out around the village in a procession. The entire atmosphere becomes festive and full of fun and revelry. Bulls are left free and young men show their prowess in running with them or wrestling them to the ground. On this day, the Indian version of Bullfight called Jalli Kattu is organized, where men wrestle with a sturdy bull and try to pin it to the ground by grasping their horns. The prize is a purse tied to the horns.