Thai Pongal – By Shiyamala Yogeswaran
Source : Dæhæna – January 2025
Thai Pongal is a significant harvest festival widely celebrated by Tamils across Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, European nations, North America, South Africa, and Mauritius wherever Tamil communities reside. Known as the “Festival of Gratitude,” it honours the Sun God, seen as a natural deity and a source of energy, as well as cattle and other living beings .
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Celebrated on the first day of the Tamil month “Thai,” the festival is steeped in tradition.
Families use freshly harvested rice and cook the sweet dish “Pongal” innew clay pots. The dish is offered first to Surya Bhagavan (Sun God) as a gesture of gratitude. Homes are decorated with turmeric leaves and sugarcanes, and the festivity is marked by abundance, unity, and joy. It is a festival to encourage social cohesiveness and unite people by bringing them together in a common function.
On Thai Pongal, each member wakes up before sunrise, bathes, dresses in new clothes, and gathers in the front yard (muttram) to prepare the traditional Pongal dish (a rice pudding). The front yard is carefully prepared for this ceremonial cooking. A flat, square area is cleaned and decorated with intricate kolam (rangoli) patterns and positioned to receive direct sunlight. A hearth is constructed using three bricks and fuelled with firewood.
The cooking begins with placing a clay pot filled with water on the hearth. Once the water boils, a family member ceremoniously adds the first three handfuls of rice to the pot. Other ingredients, including chakkarai (brown cane sugar) or katkandu (sugar candy), milk (cow’s or coconut milk), roasted green gram (payaru), raisins, cashew nuts, and cardamom pods, are then added to make the special dish.
Once the Pongal is ready, it is served first on a banana leaf. The family gathers to pray, offering gratitude to nature, the Sun, and the farmers who worked hard to produce the harvest. This act symbolizes their appreciation and reverence for the blessings of the Earth and the cycle of life.
In some places, pongal is celebrated for four days.
1. Bhogi Festival:
Marking the last day of the Tamil month “Margazhi,” Bhogi signifies discarding old things to welcome the new. It symbolizes transformation and renewal. Bonfires are lit to burn old possessions, creating space for fresh beginnings.
2. SuryaPongal:
The main day of the festival is dedicated to worshiping the Sun God. Families gather to prepare the dish Pongal, letting it boil over as a symbol of prosperity.
3. MattuPongal:
Dedicated to cattle, this day highlights the gratitude farmers feel toward their animals. Bulls and cows are bathed, decorated with garlands, and worshipped. Rituals such as sprinkling water from the Pongal dish onto cattle emphasize their divine status.
4. KaanumPongal:
On this day, families visit friends and relatives, sharing food and celebrating unity. It is also a day of communal bonding and thanksgiving.
Shiyamala Yoges
Mrs. Shiyamala Yogeswaran is currently working as a Quality Assurance (QA) Coordinator at Lactalis Pty Ltd, a multinational dairy company in Australia. Her writing journey, which began during her school and university days, has now established her as a recognized author. So far, she has published three novels and three short story collections
