The holiday is also traditionally celebrated at harvest time, by thanking the sun god, rain and the farm animals that have helped in the harvest. In Tamil Nadu (neighboring state to us) the celebrations are for three days. The first day, Bhogi, is dedicated to burning all old and unwanted things that people own. People make huge bonfires to burn away the old and ring in the new season/year per se. On the second day, Pongal, milk and rice are cooked together in a pot and allowed to overflow, symbolizing that prosperity will overflow in life. The last day, is called Matta Pongal, and this is when the farm animals (typically cattle) are washed and decorated in thanks to them. Often there are races and other such events to celebrate the day.
The fact that this day is still celebrated in some way throughout the country signifies that agriculture is still such a huge part of the social and cultural fabric of life here. It would be interesting to research how many centuries old this festival might be and how harvests are celebrated in other parts of the world.
At home we celebrated by eating lots of yummy food, napping, watching movies, and writing a blog post! Nice celebration indeed!!! Pongal -o-Pongal!!!
Here is a picture of rangoli created by our neighbor.
No comments:
Post a Comment