Pongal
Pongal ( Tamil பொங்கல Poṅkal [ ˈpoŋɡəl ], literally "boil over"), also Tai Pongal or Thai Pongal (Tamil தைப்பொங்கல் Tai Poṅkal [ ˈt̪ai̯ ˌpoŋɡəl ]), is a Tamil harvest festival . It is celebrated at the beginning of the Tamil month of Tai (mid-January) and is one of the most important Tamil holidays. Pongal also refers to the rice dish that is cooked during the festival, but can also be eaten on other occasions.
The festivities last a total of four days. The whole house is cleaned before the holidays. On the first day, Bhogi , you burn old clothes and other old things, symbolizing a new beginning, or throw them away. Vakisan Pongal , the actual Pongal day, falls according to the Tamil calendar on the first day of the Tamil month of Tai , usually January 14th or 15th. Early in the morning you cook the typical dish, which is also called pongal . It consists of milk with the new rice and syrup from the palm sugar of the new harvest. According to old tradition, it should be cooked in the open courtyard in a new pot on a new fireplace. Large sticks of sugar cane stand next to the pongal pot. The pot is placed on the wood fire so that the milk comes up to boil as precisely as possible at sunrise. The family stands around the pot and bursts into jubilation at the event. Then the rice and the syrup are added, sometimes also Payaru, spicy little green lentils. Later you give gifts to the neighbors and exchange holiday greetings. This day is the most important of the Pongal festival.
On the third day, Mattu Pongal , cows are ritually thanked for their services. In some areas of Tamil Nadu, there is a competition that day, Jallikattu , also known as Manju Virattu or Yeru Thazhuvuthal - Hugging the Bull . For the young men, the point is to tame a bull, which is seen as a mark of bravery. The sport also serves to preserve the native breed of cattle.
On the final holiday, Kaanum Pongal , people travel to see other family members. The younger generation honors the older one on this day. There is also a tradition of putting food on banana leaves outside the house for the birds on this day.
Outside South India, people celebrate the Makar Sankranti solstice festival and in Punjab the Lohri harvest festival on the same day , although customs and mythological backgrounds are different from those of the Tamil Pongal.
literature
- Ajay Das: Faiths, Fairs & Festivals of India . Better Books, Panchkula 2007, ISBN 978-81-903177-7-1 .
- DG Gururani: Indian Fairs & Festivals . Akansha Publishing House, New Delhi 2007, ISBN 978-81-8370-077-1 .
- Stefano Piano: Religion and Culture of India . Böhlau, 2004, ISBN 9783825225070 .
- Gertrud Wagemann: Festivals of the Religions. Meeting of cultures . Kösel, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-466-36592-9 .
Web links
- Dianne Jenet: Red Rice for Bhagavati. Pongala ritual at Attukal Temple in Kerala, India. (PDF file; 241 kB) Presented at Awakening the Energy for Change: the Black Madonna and the Womb of God. A conference at the Pacific School of Religion, June 18, 2005
Individual evidence
- ↑ GD Gururani: Indian Fairs & Festivals . Akansha Publishing House, New Delhi 2007, ISBN 978-81-8370-077-1 , pp. 169-171 .
- ↑ Gertrud Wagemann: Festivals of the Religions. Meeting of cultures . Kösel, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-466-36592-9 , pp. 172-176 .
- ↑ GD Gururani: Indian Fairs & Festivals . Akansha Publishing House, New Delhi 2007, ISBN 978-81-8370-077-1 , pp. 169-171 .