Pongal 2022: Date, history & Its significance
Pongal, also known as Thai Pongal and celebrated for four days, is one of Tamil Nadu’s most prominent holidays. It is known as Makar Sankranti or Sankranti, Uttarayana, Lori not just in Tamil Nadu but throughout India. Pongal is a Hindu festival dedicated to thanking the Sun God. Makar Sankranti is the month of January, when the Sun enters Makar. This festivity begins the day after the Lohri festival.
It is a four-day harvest festival celebrated in South India, particularly in Tamil Nadu, will take place from January 14 to 17 this year. Every year in mid-January, it symbolises the start of Uttarayan, the sun’s voyage northward, and the conclusion of the winter season. Pongal falls at the same time as Makar Sankranti, Lohri, and Magh Bihu, which are all harvest festivals in India.
Pongal significance and celebrations
Bhogi Pongal, the first day of the festival, begins with the arrival of fresh rice, sugarcane, and turmeric harvests from the fields. As part of the Bhogi Mantalu rite, which also denotes fresh beginnings, old and worthless household items are dumped and burned alongside cow dung.
The Sun God is honoured on the second day of the festival, also known as Surya Pongal or Thai Pongal, which falls on the first day of the Tamil month Thai. Women get up early on this day to clean their homes and decorate them with beautiful kolam designs. On this day, freshly harvested rice, milk, and jaggery are cooked in pots until they overflow and spill. The event is named after the word Pongal, which meaning “to boil” or “to overflow.” This dessert is offered to the Sun God before being served to the family on banana leaves.
Lighting bonfires, singing and dancing to folklores, organising social events, and exchanging gifts are some of the other rituals associated with festivals.
Apart from India, this event is also observed in Sri Lanka, Mauritius, the United States of America, Canada, and Singapore, among other countries.
Also Read: Lohri 2022: Date, History & Its Significance
