write an essay about how do you celebrate pongal..
give correct answer or i will be span u guys..n
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Answer:
What is Pongal?
Pongal is a four-day-long harvest festival celebrated in Tamil Nadu, which falls in the month of Thai (that is, the January-February season) when crops like rice, sugarcane, turmeric etc. are harvested.
The term 'pongal' in Tamil means "to boil", and this festival is celebrated as a thanksgiving ceremony for the year's harvest. Pongal, one of the important Hindu festivals, falls around the same time as Lohri every year, which is around mid-January.
Pongal also happens to be the name of a dish consumed during this festive time, which is sweetened rice boiled with lentils.
The first day of Pongal - The Bhogi festival
The Bhogi festival is celebrated in honour of Lord Indra, the god of rain, and the lord of lords. The ritual of Bhogi Mantalu is also observed this day, during which useless items of the household are tossed into a bonfire traditionally made of cow dung cakes and wood.
Bhogi Mantalu being celebrated. Photo: Pinterest
The second day - Thai Pongal
This day, a special ritual is performed where rice and milk are boiled together in an earthen pot - to which a turmeric plant is tied - out in the open as an offering to the sun god. Along with this, sticks of sugarcane, coconuts and bananas are also offered.
Another important aspect of this day is the kolam, the traditional design hand-drawn at the entrance of houses with lime powder. This auspicious drawing must be done early in the morning and only after a bath.
Young girls cooking rice in an earthen pot on Pongal. Photo: PTI
The third day - Mattu Pongal
Mattu Pongal is the day celebrated in the name of cows. The cattle are adorned with bells, sheaves of corn and garlandsand worshipped.
Legend has it that Lord Shiva had once sent his bull, Basava, to earth with a message for the mortals, asking them to have an oil massage and bath daily, and to eat once a month. Basava, however, mistakenly announced Shiva has asked people to eat daily and have an oil bath once a month.
Enraged, Shiva banished Basava to the earth forever, cursing he would have to plough the fields to help people produce more food. Hence, the association of this day to cattle.
A cow adorned for Mattu Pongal. Photo: Pinterest
The fourth day - Kaanum Pongal
Kaanum (or Kanu) Pongal marks the last day of Pongal. On this day, a ritual is performed where the leftover sweet Pongal and other food are set out in the courtyard on a washed turmeric leaf, along with betel leaves, betel nuts and sugar cane.
Women of the household carry out this ritual in the name of their brothers, asking for their prosperity.
The ritual of Kaanum Pongal. Photo: YouTube
So, now that all that has been said, we would like to wish you all a very Happy Pongal!
Pongal is the harvest festival of Tamil Nadu, also a great festival of South India. The festival is celebrated as a Thanks Giving ceremony to God. As we all know, for any farmer Harvesting is the biggest part of all his hard work. He toils all the year with his cattle, working day and night depending on rain and Sun. So, as a note of thanks to God for helping him throughout, Pongal is celebrated in mid of January every year.
Pongal is believed to be the beginning of Uttarayan – the beginning of Sun’s long journey northwards. People believe with this celebration, God shall give them peace, happiness, prosperity, brightness and harmony in life. On these 4 days, families gather and share their joy.
The 4 days of Pongal celebrations are named as:
Bhogi Pongal: The houses are cleaned getting rid of old things and decorations take place
Surya Pongal: This is the first day of the Tamil Month – Thai. This day is also known as Thai Pongal. People offere Pongal to the Sun God
Mattu Pongal: On this day, the farmer expresses his happiness of a fresh harvest. The happiness is shared in the form of food and sweets
Kaanum Pongal: This day is more like Raksha Bandhan. Brother pay tribute to their sisters and families get together on this day
The houses are cleaned, painted and decorated before the celebrations start. People wear new dresses on these days and they believe it is time to forget everything and simply rejoice. Many people visit their natives since it is a long and most celebrated festival in South India.