Pongal 2021: All about the history, significance, celebration of the festival

Pongal is a four-day harvest festival in Tamil Nadu that falls in the Thai month of the Tamil calendar. The festival is observed in the other South Indian states too, where it is given a different name. Pongal is celebrated as the harvest festival, which marks the end of Margazhi month. It is celebrated as a ritual of thanksgiving for the harvest of the year.

This year the festival will be celebrated between 14th January 2020-17th January 2020. In North India, the festival is called Makar Sankranti and during the same time, Lohri is also celebrated. For four long days, the Pongal festival is celebrated and mother nature and Sun God is worshipped for bestowing food grains. The harvest festival is named after the Tamil word, Ponga, which means to boil. Read on to know more about Pongal 2021, its history, and significance. 

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Pongal history

According to Jagran Josh, in Hindu mythology, Lord Shiva asked the bull named Basava to visit Earth and tell the humans to oil massage and bath every day. But the bull announced a different message, which infuriated Lord Shiva and he cursed Basava. This led to the bull being stuck on Earth forever and plough the fields to help farmers yield more food. According to the Encyclopedia of Hinduism, the day marks as the start of the month Thai according to Tamil solar calendar. 

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Pongal significance

On the first day of the four day Pongal festival, people collect old stuff from their house and burn them in a bonfire. This is done to indicate a new beginning in their life and start fresh. On the second day, people pray to the sun god, Surya. People also decorate their houses with sugarcane and kolam on this day. The second day of Pongal involves boiling of milk and rice inside a pot.

Sweet dishes are also prepared which are served with sugarcane, murukku, and sambhar. Then, Maatu Pongal is observed on the third day of festivities, where Maatu translates into "cow." Tamilians paying their gratitude to cattle on this day is synonymous with the ploughing of land for both farming and dairy supply. So cows are bathed, coated with turmeric mud, decorated with garland and well-fed. Then, Kaanum Pongal is observed as the fourth and final day of the Pongal festivities. The word Kaanum means' to visit,' so it's time for friends and family to visit each other. 

Pongal festivals celebration

On the days of Pongal, people decorate their houses with mango, banana leaves and make colourful patterns made with rice flour at the entrance of the house. Moreover, the traditional sweet dish of Pongal is prepared at home from rice and jaggery. Apart from this, Jallikattu, a bull-taming event is also organised. Happy Pongal 2021.

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