Pongal is a festival that drags people towards happiness and joy. Celebrations of Pongal starts when the sun starts to move towards the north. The festival is related to the worship of the sun. 

This festival has great significance for the Tamilian people. Pongal is a celebration of harvesting crops. the Chola and Pallava were the periods before this era.

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Pongal Wishes & Rituals:

Pongal Festival is a joyful occasion for all Hindus around the world. Search by typing Pongal wishes and get lots of colorful images to send to your loved ones.

The festival Pongal means “ to boil, overflow”. It also refers to the traditional dish, made by a new harvest of Rice in milk and sugar. Followed sometimes by offering to a cow. 

Traditionally this festival is all about decorating homes with colors, based on Kolam artworks. Welcoming new and positive vibes. To create joy and humbleness around each other. Getting together with family and friends and giving gifts to create social bonds. 

Each day has its significance and rituals to follow.  

Bhogi

It is the first day of the festival. Lord Indra is known to be the Lord of rains. Each day has a specific worship ritual. Bhogi is the day when everyone worships Lord Indra. People paint and decorate their houses. This day they clean all their houses, to start their new life ahead and allow everything new to enter their houses.

People light a bonfire outside their house and burn away all useless and bad things. Things that have been used throughout the year are burnt away. Everyone likes to buy new vessels. It means letting go of all previous things and Pongal wishes to welcoming new things. They observe this event during the last month of Tamils known as Marghazi. In which they abstain from the usage of milk or milk products for the whole month. 

Thai Pongal

Pongal wishes to festive day of Hindus. Family and friends are an important part of this festival. 

is prepared this day by boiling Rice and milk, which is cooked in an earthen pot in an open place. Mostly under the Lord sun as a Thanksgiving. The ingredients used in cooking are the one came from harvesting. Freshly harvested rice grains and sugar cane jaggery are the main ingredients of the dish. Coconuts and bananas are also offered as part of the ritual. 

Tamilians decorate their homes with bananas and mango leaves.  Comics are decorative floral, festive, or geometric patterns that are drawn on the front yards and corridors. Colorful lime powder is used to create these patterns. 

Mattu Pongal 

The word Mattu means cattle in the Tamil language. The celebrations are to be accomplished with cows. While continuing the process of decoration, cows and bulls are also decorated with various stuff. The people pray to cows, bulls, and other farm animals as it’s their way of thanking them. 

Lord Shiva sent a bull on the earth. It was told to bull to convey a message to the people on earth. Lord Shiva told everyone to eat once in a month and bathe daily. Basava told people to eat daily and bathe once a month. Lord Shiva got devastated by the wrong statement and it was punished. As it stayed on earth and helped people to produce crops. Whereas, Kaanum Pongal is the fourth day. This is the last day of the festival. 

Kaanum Pongal 

This day has its significance. Household women carry out these rituals. The women decorate all the leftover sweets on the leaf along with betel nuts, betel leaves, and sugarcane. They set the food worship, pray for their brothers, and pray for their prosperity. By setting meals in front of house yards as a way of thanking Lord Sun. 

Moreover, they follow some traditional dance patterns with music or songs. People enjoy time with their loved ones by going to beaches or parks. They try to relax from busy schedules and everything.   

Influence on people

During this entire event, there is a tradition of letting go of bad and evil things. Moreover, while cooking all the sweets the steam that rises from the pan, leaves positive energy everywhere. They say the mixture of rice and milk, the cardamom, and all other spices hold a tendency to leave a positive impact on the environment. This day everyone around let go of all the hate and agony about each other. 

All these reasons leave a great impact on everyone. It creates an atmosphere of joy everywhere. As well as leaving bad moments behind. Such moments become healthy. Natural and organic ingredients have been used that’s why it is the most beneficial for health. 

The organic produced during this festival helps to heal. Also, help to restore relations with the universe and to serve the motherland. Such as organic sesame, jaggery, etc. these all organic things have a great effect on health and the environment.

Conclusion

The Pongal wishes to hold great value for the Tamil people. They worship and welcome positive energy into their houses. It holds great significance for the people around them. Every ritual and day has its meaning. The festival starts from the sunrise until the sun dawns on the last day. They thank Lord Sun that they provide energy to produce meals, on which the Livelihood of farmers depends. 

Pongal is the festival of joy and happiness. People from far away come to meet their loved ones to celebrate it with everyone. It spread joy and happiness all around. Rituals have remained the same from the old-time without external influence. No matter what, Tamilians Have always remained constant in their rituals and ways. January is the starting month when villagers harvest their crops. That’s the main reason why villagers are most excited about this festival. Luckily this event has the same reputation at all places. Urban and rural both areas celebrate this festival equally. 

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