தெக்கான் குரோனிக்கல் நாளிதழில் 13.01.2020 அன்று வெளியான கட்டுரை
Colours and significance of 3-day harvest festival
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This three-day Hindu harvest festival falls in the month of Magha, corresponding with the solar equinox. Celebrated in the south, it is marked by the cooking of the rice from the first harvest after the long and arduous winter. This three-day harvest festival is celebrated every year in Magha, from the 13th to the 15th of January.
The word ‘pongal’ refers to the dish of sweet rice prepared on this occasion. The festival is celebrated widely in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The time of the festivals of great importance to all Hindus, as it corresponds to the solar equinox when the days begin to lengthen and the nights begin to wane. According to Hindu mythology, this is when the day of the gods begins, after a six-month long night. The festival spread over three days and is the most important and most fervently celebrated harvest festival of South India.
A special puja performed on the first day of Pongal before the cutting of the paddy. Farmers worship the sun and the earth by anointing their ploughs and sickles with sandal wood paste. It is with these consecrated tools that the newly harvested rice is cut. The first day is called Pongal Podigai or Bhogi Pongal and is a day of family feasting and enjoyment. Since the festival celebrates the harvest of the paddy crop, the newly harvested rice is first cooked on this day.
The rice grains, along with sesame seeds, jaggery, chickpeas, groundnuts and dried coconut, are put into an earthen pot filled with milk. This is boiled until some of the milk spills over, and the preparation is called ‘Pongal’. It is cooked at an auspicious hour, recommended by the priest, in the courtyard of the house. A portion of the cooked rice is offered to Ganesha, and the family, neighbors and friends share the rest as consecrated food. As people greet each other, they ask paal pongita or ‘has the milk boiled over?’
Another ritual observed on this day is called Bhogi Mantalu, when useless household articles are thrown into a fire made of wood and cow dung cakes. Girls dance around the bon ire, singing songs in praise of the gods, the spring and the harvest. In Andhra Pradesh, in the morning the girls burn their old clothes and wear new ones after an oil massage and bath.
Then follows Pongal Panai, a ritual in which the newer then ware pots are painted and decorated with turmeric, flowers and mango leaves. The second day is known as Surya Pongal, the day for the worship of Pongal The pongal is allowed to boil over Surya, and the rice cooked in milk and jaggery is offered him. When the foods being cooked and when it boils over, people shout pongalo pongal loudly and many times to rejoice.
On this festive day, a newly married couple, symbolising freshness and joy, is presented with new clothes by the bride’s parents. The servants of the house are also given new clothes to wear. Bathing in the sacred rivers during Pongal is believed to be extremely beneficial. Hence, devotees flock to Tanjavur in Tamil Nadu to bathe in the waters of the Kaveri, and to Tirunelveli, also in Tamil Nadu to bathe in the river Tamrapani.
Bathing in the sea at Vedanaranyam in TamilNadu is also considered auspicious. The third day is known as Mattu Pongal or Gopuja, the day of Pongal Shiva cursed Basava to live on earth forever for cows. It is marked by cattle worship. In earlier times, cattle formed the chief asset of an agriculturalist and it was only proper that their services were recognized and celebrated on this day. The cattle are given a ceremonial bathing the morning; their horns are cleaned, polished and painted, and then decorated with flowers. They are then given Pongal to eat. 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.
A festival called Jalli kathu is held in Madurai, Tiruchirapalli and Tanjavur, all in Tamil Nadu, 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 Tamilian Tirunal in a fitting manner through out Tamil Nadu. Sisters for the welfare of their brothers also celebrate Muttu Pongal, also called KanuPongal. This festival is reminiscent of Raksha Bandhan and Bhai Duja (see Diwali) of north India.
Bhogali Bihu of Assam in east India could be regarded as the matching counterpart of the Tamil Pongal festival.The nightlong feast with family and friends along with the preparation of traditional Assamese goodies, and the early morning worship of the Indian god of fire – Agni, are some of the major highlights of this festival.
In West Bengal, it is celebrated in the form of a festival cum fair called Ganga Sagar Mela.However, this fair is not confined to the Bengalis only as people from all over India come to visit the Ganga Sagar beach with the belief that a dip in the holy bank will absolve them of their sins.
In Punjab and its neighboring states, this day is celebrated, as Lohri. It marks the coming of spring and the approaching end of winter. Fires are lit as dusk approaches. Arrangement for feasts among family and friends and gatherings around the sacred bonfire, and an exchange of greetings and pleasantries mark the festival celebration here.
(The Writer is Director, Translation Tamil Development and Information Department,
Government of Tamil Nadu)
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