Pongal Celebration In my Native ( Tamil Nadu - India)

Thai Pongal:

2018 Jan 14 to 2018 Jan 17.

This festival is mainly celebrating for thanks giving the lord of Sun and the animals used harvesting(cattle like Cows, Bulls, Goat etc). Pongal is a four-day-long harvest festival celebrated in Tamil Nadu, which falls in the month of Thai (Name of the month in tamil called thai) (that is, the January-February season) when crops like rice, sugarcane, turmeric etc. are harvested.

The term 'pongal' in Tamil means "to boil rice", and this festival is celebrated as a thanksgiving ceremony for the year's harvest. Pongal, one of the important Hindu festivals.

Pongal also happens to be the name of a dish consumed during this festive time, which is sweetened rice boiled with lentils.

The first day of Pongal - The Bhogi festival:

The Bhogi festival is celebrated in honour of Lord Indra, the god of rain, and the lord of lords. The ritual of Bhogi Mantalu is also observed this day, during which useless items of the household are tossed into a bonfire traditionally made of cow dung cakes and wood. this is also called the last day of margazhi ( this is the tamil month which is during winter season)

The second day - Thai Pongal:

This day, a special ritual is performed where rice and milk are boiled together in an earthen pot - to which a turmeric plant is tied - out in the open as an offering to the sun god. Along with this, sticks of sugarcane, coconuts and bananas are also offered.

The third day - Mattu Pongal:

Mattu Pongal is the day celebrated in the name of cows. The cattle are adorned with bells, sheaves of corn and garlands and worshipped.

Legend has it that Lord Shiva had once sent his bull, Basava, to earth with a message for the mortals, asking them to have an oil massage and bath daily, and to eat once a month. Basava, however, mistakenly announced Shiva has asked people to eat daily and have an oil bath once a month.

Enraged, Shiva banished Basava to the earth forever, cursing he would have to plough the fields to help people produce more food. Hence, the association of this day to cattle.

The fourth day - Kaanum Pongal:

Kaanum (or Kanu) Pongal marks the last day of Pongal. On this day, a ritual is performed where the leftover sweet

Pongal and other food are set out in the courtyard on a washed turmeric leaf, along with betel leaves, betel nuts and sugar cane.

Women of the household carry out this ritual in the name of their brothers, asking for their prosperity.

Thee name Kaanum means watching. All persons in a family are going some where outing on this day.

Jallikattu:

From the second day to the Fourth day there is traditional spectacle conducted with bulls called Jallikattu. is released into a crowd of people, and multiple human participants attempt to grab the large hump on the bull's back with both arms and hang on to it while the bull attempts to escape.

The year 2017 pro-jallikattu protests, also known as the pro-jallikattu movement or Thai Puratchi, refers to numerous leaderless apolitical youth groups protesting in January 2017 in large groups in several locations across the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, with some sporadic smaller protests taking place across India, as well as overseas. If you like to know more about jallikattu,Pls leave a comment. I will breaf it on my next post.

Thanks for reading My Post..!!! God may bless you my friends. Vaazhga Tamil..