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SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00071 Jan 2006

 
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    Dear Readers,
  I am writing as to what i know about pongal  festival. It would nice if some 
one could enlighten more on this  tradition festival and its importance in our 
sampradayams.
  
  Pongal is the only festival of Hindu that follows a solar  calendar and is    
  celebrated on the  fourteenth of January every year.Pongal has astronomical 
significance: it marks  the beginning of Uttarayana, the Sun's movement 
northward for a six month  period. In Hinduism, Uttarayana is considered 
auspicious, as opposed to  Dakshinaayana, or the southern movement of the sun. 
All-important events are  scheduled during this period. Makara Sankranthi 
refers to the event of the Sun  entering the zodiac sign of Makara or Capricorn.
                  In Hindu temples bells, drums, clarinets and conch shells  
herald the joyous occasion of Pongal. To symbolize a bountiful harvest, rice is 
 cooked in new pots until they boil over. Some of the rituals performed in the 
temple include the  preparation of rice, the chanting of prayers and the 
offering of vegetables,  sugar cane and spices to the gods. Devotees then 
consume the offerings to  exonerate themselves of past sins.
  
  Thai  Pongal is an occasion for family re-unions and get-together. Old 
enmities,  personal animosities and rivalries are forgotten. Estrangements are 
healed and reconciliation  effected. Indeed, Thai Pongal is a festival of 
freedom, peace, Unity and compassion crystallized in the last hymn on unity  in 
the Indian spiritual text the Rig Veda. Thus, love and peace are the central  
theme of Thai Pongal.
                  Pongal signals the end of the traditional farming season,  
giving farmers a break from their monotonous routine. Farmers also perform puja 
 to some crops, signaling the end of the traditional farming season. It also  
sets the pace for a series of festivals to follow in a calendar year. In fact, 
four festivals are celebrated in  Tamil Nadu for four consecutive days in that 
week. 'Bogi' is celebrated on January 13,  'Pongal' on Jan 14, 'Maattuppongal' 
on Jan 15, and 'Thiruvalluvar Day' on Jan 16. The festival  is celebrated for 
four days. On, the first day, Bhogi, the old clothes and  materials are thrown 
away and fired, marking the beginning of a new life. The second day, the Pongal 
day, is  celebrated by boiling fresh milk early in the morning and allowing it 
to boil  over the vessel - a tradition that is the literal translation for 
Pongal.  People also prepare savories and sweets, visit each other's homes, and 
exchange  greetings. The third day, Mattu Pongal, is
 meant to offer thanks to the cows  and buffaloes, as they are used to plough 
the lands. On the last day, Kanum  Pongal, people go out to picnic. 
      A festival called Jalli katthu is held in Madurai, Tiruchirapalli  and 
Tanjavur,all in TamilNadu, on this day. Bundles of money are tied to the horns  
of Pongal ferocious bulls which the villagers try to retrieve. Everyone joins  
in the community meal, at which the food is made of the freshly harvested  
grain. This day is named and celebrated as Tamiliar Thirunal in a fitting  
manner through out Tamil Nadu. 
          Thus, the harvest festival of Pongal symbolizes the veneration  of 
the first fruit. The crop is harvested only after a certain time of the  year, 
and cutting the crop before that time is strictly prohibited. Even though 
Pongal was originally a  festival for the farming community, today it is 
celebrated by all. In south  India, all three days of Pongal are considered 
important. However, those south  Indians who have settled in the north usually 
celebrate only the second day.  Coinciding with Makara Sankranti and Lohri of 
the north, it is also called  Pongal Sankranti.
      
                      

      
   -- 
  Best Wishes,
  Kidambi Narayanan,
  RM 822,Crystal Village V8,
  2-13-11 Arai, Nakano-ku,
  Tokyo 165-0026,Japan
  Ph: +81-90-7258-8492
  BlogSpot:http://kidzu.blogspot.com
  Albums: http://photos.yahoo.com/kidambinarayanan
   
   






                        
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