Wish you all a Happy Pongal and Makara Sankranti.
Pongal is a harvest festival celebrated mainly in Tamilnadu. It is like the thanksgiving festival, thanking the Sun God for a bountiful harvest. The festival is celebrated in 3 days. The first day is called the Bhogi. On this day houses are cleaned and old unwanted items are thrown out. In the evening after dinner, the ladies come out and decorate the front yard of the houses with Kolams or rangolis.
The next day is called Pongal. On this day the people get up early take a bath. Set up the hearth where the pongal will be made. In an earthen pot rice is cooked and jaggery is added to form sweet rice or sharkarai pongal. The earthen pot is decorated and tied with freshly plucked turmeric plants with roots intact. The sharkarai pongal is then offered to the sun god as neivedyam along with sugarcane.
The third day is called Kanu Pongal. On this day young ladies seek the blessings of elderly ladies with a piece of turmeric root in hand. The turmeric is then touched on the forehead by the elder and the young lady gets blessed for a happy life ahead. After this small rice balls mixed with turmeric, coconut, jaggery (each 7 in number) are placed on the turmeric leaves and offered to the birds with these words "Kakka podi vecchen, Kanu podi vechen, kakkai kootam kalanjalum en kootam kalaiyamal irukkatum" meaning i have kept kakka podi and kanu podi, even if the crow family splits up, let my family never split. It is a prayer for keeping the family united through both good and bad times. This day is also celebrated as Maatu Pongal (Maadu means cow) where cattle are bathed and prayer for their well being is said so that they are healthy for the next planting season.
I have many sweet memories of celebrating Pongal at my parents home. On the day before Pongal my father would buy sugarcane, flowers, turmeric plant and fruits for neivedyam. On the day of Pongal my mother will make sharkarai pongal at the designated time and after puja will offer it as neivedyam. The rest of the day is spent visiting friends and relatives with packets of pongal as gift. I will post the recipe for sharkarai pongal in the next post.
Pongal is a harvest festival celebrated mainly in Tamilnadu. It is like the thanksgiving festival, thanking the Sun God for a bountiful harvest. The festival is celebrated in 3 days. The first day is called the Bhogi. On this day houses are cleaned and old unwanted items are thrown out. In the evening after dinner, the ladies come out and decorate the front yard of the houses with Kolams or rangolis.
The next day is called Pongal. On this day the people get up early take a bath. Set up the hearth where the pongal will be made. In an earthen pot rice is cooked and jaggery is added to form sweet rice or sharkarai pongal. The earthen pot is decorated and tied with freshly plucked turmeric plants with roots intact. The sharkarai pongal is then offered to the sun god as neivedyam along with sugarcane.
The third day is called Kanu Pongal. On this day young ladies seek the blessings of elderly ladies with a piece of turmeric root in hand. The turmeric is then touched on the forehead by the elder and the young lady gets blessed for a happy life ahead. After this small rice balls mixed with turmeric, coconut, jaggery (each 7 in number) are placed on the turmeric leaves and offered to the birds with these words "Kakka podi vecchen, Kanu podi vechen, kakkai kootam kalanjalum en kootam kalaiyamal irukkatum" meaning i have kept kakka podi and kanu podi, even if the crow family splits up, let my family never split. It is a prayer for keeping the family united through both good and bad times. This day is also celebrated as Maatu Pongal (Maadu means cow) where cattle are bathed and prayer for their well being is said so that they are healthy for the next planting season.
I have many sweet memories of celebrating Pongal at my parents home. On the day before Pongal my father would buy sugarcane, flowers, turmeric plant and fruits for neivedyam. On the day of Pongal my mother will make sharkarai pongal at the designated time and after puja will offer it as neivedyam. The rest of the day is spent visiting friends and relatives with packets of pongal as gift. I will post the recipe for sharkarai pongal in the next post.
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