A festival that symbolizes the arrival of sun within the hemisphere , Pongal is widely known as a harvest festival in Tamil Nadu . It’s likea thanksgiving to God, the cattle, sun and earth. ‘Pongal’ springs from the word ‘ponga’ that factually connotes ‘boil’ and thus Pongal means ‘spillover’ or something that’s ‘overflowing’.

Pongal is a significant festival of Tamil Nadu and is widely known for four days. the primary day is understood as Bhogi, during which people throw away or burn the old household things and attend buy the new ones. It signifies the start of a replacement cycle. subsequent day is named Perum or Surya Pongal. It’s the foremost imperativeday of Pongal. On today , people offer prayers to Lord Surya and hence pay homage to sun. the homes are decorated with special design called Kolam, which is drawn using clay and rice flour. People wear new clothes. The third day is Mattu Pongal that’s marked by praying to the cattle. The cattle are worshipped because it helps in recuperating harvest.

Kanum Pongal is that the fourth day on which individuals spend time with their dear ones or continue a picnic with family and friends. This popular festival also embraces dancing, exchange of gifts and therefore the contests of buffalo taming.

Legends Behind Pongal

There are many famous legends behind the Pongal festival. Out of them, the foremost famous one is that of Govardhan Mountain. As per the Hindu mythology, Lord Krishna on the day of Bhogi (the first day of Pongal), raisedmountain on his pinkie so as to save lots of people and cattle from the anger of rain god Indra.As per the famous tale of Lord Shiva, It’s believed that Nandi, the ox, was sent by his owner Lord Shiva to inform people to require an oil bath everyday and eat only one time during a month. Nandi, by confusion, asked people to bath once during a month and eat daily. On this, Lord Shiva became angry and sent Nandi on earth so as to assist people in harvesting. Henceforth, Pongal became a well known harvest festival.

There are many regional names of Pongal. A number of them are:

Makar Sankranti
Lohri
Bihu
Hadaga
Poki