Question

essay on pongal festival in English

Answer 1

Thai Pongal (Tamil: தைப்பொங்கல், /ˈθaɪˈpoʊŋʌl/) is a harvest festival dedicated to the Sun God. It is a four-day festival which according to the Tamil calendar is usually celebrated from January 14 to January 17.[2]Thai Pongal corresponds to Makara Sankranthi, the harvest festival celebrated throughout India.

Thai Pongal
தைப்பொங்கல்Observed byEthnic Tamils,most notably; Malaysian Indians 
Indian Americans 
Sri Lankan Tamils 
Indo-Mauritians 
Indian Singaporeans 
British Indians 
Indian South Africans 
Indo-CanadiansTypeTamil festivalSignificanceHarvest festival. Thanking the Sun God for agricultural abundance 4 days longCelebrationsPresenting Pongal to Hindu Sun God, Temple Prayers and sharing Pongal dish.DateFirst day of the tenth month of Thai in the Tamil calendarRelated toMakar Sankranti (in Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Kerala, Bihar, Goa, Karnataka, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh in India)
Magh Bihu (in Assam, India) 
Uttarayana (in Gujurat and Rajasthan in India) 
Maghi (in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab in India) 
Maghe Sankranti (in Nepal) 
Shakrain (in Bangladesh)Tamil is written in a non-Latin script. Tamil text used in this article is transliterated into the Latin script according to the ISO 15919 standard.

Thai Pongal is one of the most important festivals celebrated by Tamil people[3][4] in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the Indian Union Territory of Puducherry,[5][6] and the country of Sri Lanka,[7][8][9] as well as Tamils worldwide, including those in Malaysia,[10][11] Mauritius, South Africa,[12][13] United States, Singapore,[14] Canada[15][16] and UK.[17]

The day marks the start of the sun's six-month-long journey northwards (the Uttaraayanam). This also corresponds to the Indic solstice when the sun purportedly enters the 10th house of the Indian zodiac Makara or Capricorn. Thai Pongal is mainly celebrated to convey appreciation to the Sun God for a successful harvest. Part of the celebration is the boiling of the first rice of the season consecrated to the Sun - the Surya Maangalyam.

Answer 2

Pongal is a Tamil harvest festival. It is same as Thanksgiving Day. In an agriculture based civilization, harvest plays an important role. The farmer cultivating the land depends on his cattle, timely rain and the Sun. Once a year, he expresses his gratitude to everything which symbolizes the harvest celebration. With the end of the wet month of Margazhi (mid December to mid January) the new Tamil month of Thai heralds a series of festivals. The first day of this month is a festival day known as "Pongal Day". Pongal means the "boiling over" of milk and rice during the month of Thai.


As one stand on the threshold of the harvest season, everyone exchange Pongal wishes, hoping that it brings the harbinger of good luck, good fortune and good cheer. People wish each other good times, happiness, peace and prosperity. They also greet each other saying "Pongalo Pongal" and "Pongum Mangalam Engum Thanguga" in Tamil.Tamils wish each other to start the New Year with mutual respect, understanding, trust and sincere cooperation.

Pongal also referred to as "harvest festival", is observed by the people of Tamil Nadu, located in the Southern part of India. The idea behind celebrating this day is the gratification of people towards God Sun, for bringing about the season of harvest, which is a boon for them! The festival is celebrated on 15th January every year by the Hindu community.

People show their gratitude by offering cooked rice to the Almighty!! All genres of people during this season become busy in reaping the harvest in the field. And on the particular day they cook rice in the courtyard of their houses as the food which is meant to be offered to God is considered to be inauspicious if cooked it is cooked in the kitchen.

Few day before the Pongal arrives, people particularly the lady of the home, cleans and decorates the whole house with flowers and strings of flowers. They use Swastik and kumkum to embellish big earthen vessels. The pit is filled with water and rice by either the youngest or the oldest member of the family. As per the traditions it is of paramount importance to add some milk to water in which rice is cooked which is to be offered to the God Sun. People who get involved in cooking rice for the God has to take utmost care of cleanliness. They are supposed not to step over the Rangoli which has been designed for decoration.