Pongal time it is, all that I knew I was going to do is eat
the sumptuous sweet pongal my mother would make and take a day off from all my
work to watch those good blockbuster movies that would be telecasted on my
idiot box and enjoy the day . But, little did I know that the festival marked a
great importance among the agriculturists back at my native place which was
long forgotten, little did I know that there are people out there who would be
relishing and thanking our solar deity (sun god) for the food we eat.
Curiosity drove me to the extent of calling up my granddad, who
was an agriculturist back then and now settled in namma Chennai , to ask him what exactly pongal was all about. He
was taken back that his granddaughter amongst all the people wanted to know
about it when everyone else paid little heed to it. He though confessed that it
has been quite a while since he went to his native and that he might have
forgotten the actual customs but promised to tell me ^_^ .
Pongal, the harvest festival of South India, popularly known
as uttarayana, lohri, makara sankranthi in North India and Bhogali Bihu in the
northeast is a festival celebrated as a
thanksgiving festival to the Sun God . The day before the pongal is the Boghi
festival where the old objects/clothes are burnt signifying the welcome of the
new beginning with new thoughts. On the day of pongal, pongal is made i in handmade clay pots and the
boiling over of the pongal from the pot signifies the beginning of the Pongal
festival and is said to bring a lot of prosperity for the people.
The next day , kaanum
pongal is celebrated where we visit our dear ones place, mostly siblings, to
seek their blessings and the sister of the family usually gives gift as a token
of love to her brother. And not to forget Maatu pongal where the cows and
bullocks are bathed and they are decorated, a festival to thank their land
ploughers and conduct races called Jhallikattu
where the machos of the town try to stop the bullock to which wads of
currency notes are tied. It sure sounds interesting, but a lot more brutal at
the end of the day.
Would it be exaggerating if I were to tell you I had
goosebumps after hearing all this from my grandfather? But yes, that is exactly
what happened when I thought about how India is so enriched with culture and customs.
So amusing it was to realize that our people followed and had belief in such
customs and even more delightful to know that people still follow these customs
atleast if not for the traditional stirring-the-pongal-in-a-clay-pot :)
I was lucky enough to have witnessed all of this at a
cultural museum center Dakshinachithra , with the pongal being made in the
authentic way , sugarcanes tied around it
and the ladies echoing the prosperity call “pongal o pongal” when the
pongal rises over , followed by a folk dance by our folks :) Yes, it sure was
entertaining than watching movies on my idiot box :)
I have heard that its a lot more colourful in our North India,
their festival significance marked with a blend of colours by flying kites. It
would be such a treat to watch hundreds of enlightening colours make their way
into the sky, yes its another heed paid to our Sun deity by reaching up to him.
Given the era we are living in, festivals like these have
not been forgotten :) Though majorily because we get a string of holidays, the
actual customs has not become a thing of past :)
Happy pongal folks :)
P.S wishing you from the bottom of my heart :)
