Pongal Festival
Being a rural festival of Tamil Nadu, Pongal is celebrated with great enthusiasm and gaiety across the state. Even it is a festival celebrated also by the city dwellers due to its vibrant spirit. It generally falls in the month of January which marks the end of the harvesting of the rural agrarian people. It is celebrated at the end of south west monsoon. People pray Sun God, Mother Earth and Cattle for rendering a good harvest to them. It is four days long festival complemented by various features of festival spirits.
Local folklore says, on the first day of the Pongal festival people pay homage to Lord Krishna who lifts up the Govardhan Parvat (mountain) to hoard his people from the nonstop rain. The third day is related to divine gift of Lord Shiva, his bull Nandi to the earth who takes the reverse message to the earth. Shiva says him to deliver the message that the earth dwellers must have an oil bath everyday and eat once in a month. However Nandi delivers the message that they must eat everyday and have an oil bath once in a month. Lord Shiva gets angry with Nandi for delivering the wrong message and orders to stay in earth helping the people plough the land.
The first day of the festival is known as Bhug Pongal. People wash and decorate their houses with flower garlands. People offer the first harvest to God in a special pujja. The main characteristic of the day is that people prepare a south Indian delicacy from rice, jaggery and ghee. On the second day known as Surya Pongal people worship the Sun God. The third day of the festival is known as Mattu Pongal dedicated to the cattle. Owners bathe the cattle; decorate them with flower garlands, bells. The forth day of the festival is known as Kaanum Pongal, a celebration of family and friends. As a part of this festival in some places of rural villages bull fight is organized. Cart races and cock fight are also part of the Pongal festival.
