Pongal (redirected from pongals)

Pongal

Mid-January

A colorful four-day harvest and thanksgiving celebration in southern India, Pongal honors the sun, the earth, and the cow. It is called Pongal in the state of Tamil Nadu; Karnataka in Andhra Pradesh; and Makara Sankranti in Gujarat.
The first day is called Bhogi Pongal and is for cleaning everything in the house. On the second day, freshly harvested rice and jaggery ('palm sugar') are put to boil in new pots. When the mixture bubbles, people cry out, "Pongal!" ('It boils.') The rice is offered to Surya, the sun, before people taste it themselves, thus the second day is called Surya Pongal. On the third day, called Mattu Pongal (Festival of the Cow), village cows and oxen are bathed, decorated with garlands of bells, beads, and leaves, and worshipped.
On the fourth day, known as Kanyapongal, the festival of Jallikattu takes place in villages near Madurai in Tamil Nadu as well as in Andhra Pradesh. Bundles containing money are tied to the sharpened horns of bulls. The animals are paraded around the village and then stampeded. Young men who are brave enough try to snatch the money from the bulls' horns.
In Ahmedabad in the state of Gujarat, the celebration is a time of competitive kite-flying, and is termed the International Kite Festival . The skies are filled with kites, and kite makers come from other cities to make their multicolored kites in all shapes. As darkness falls, the battle of the kites ends, and new kites soar aloft, each with its own paper lamp, so that the sky is filled with flickering lights.

CONTACTS:
Tamil Nadu Tourism
Tourism Complex, No. 2 Wallajah Rd.
Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600 002 India
91-44-25383333; fax: 91-44-25381567
www.tamilnadutourism.org
Ministry of Tourism, Government of India
Rm. No 123, Transport Bhawan, No. 1, Parliament St.
New Delhi, Delhi 110 001 India
91-11-23715084; fax: 91-11-23715084
www.tourisminindia.com

SOURCES:
AnnivHol-2000, p. 9
BkHolWrld-1986, Jan 14
EncyRel-1987, vol. 4, p. 409
FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 98
OxYear-1999, p. 721
RelHolCal-2004, p. 181