Thai Pongal: Age- old rituals to mark harvest festival
Usually celebrated on January 14 or 15 every year, Thai Pongal is a harvest festival dedicated to celebrating and honouring the sun, the rain, and other elements of nature and the weather that aid a fruitful harvest season. Contrary to popular belief, Thai Pongal is actually not a Hindu festival. It is celebrated by Tamils in Sri Lanka, South India and other countries.
Even though it is not a public or mercantile holiday in Sri Lanka, the first day of the festival is usually marked on January 13 or 14 and is known as Bhogi Pongal. Rasalingam Nagarajah, a resident of Kilinochchi says this is the day Tamil families that celebrate the festival begin cleaning their homes and making preparations for Thai Pongal on the following day. On Bhogi Pongal day, many people burn their old or unwanted items as well.
“On Thai Pongal we conduct pooja and give offerings to the sun, as thanksgiving for a good harvest. Sugar cane is one of the main offerings.
When Nagarajah’s family is in Kilinochchi during the time of the festival, they conduct the rituals in a field close to their house, whereas if they are in Colombo the rituals happen outdoors. One of the main rituals of Thai Pongal is the making of the pongal, a ceremonial dish made with rice, coconut milk, jaggery, green gram, cashews and other ingredients.
“The pongal has to be made early morning, usually at sunrise,” he said.
One of the other traditions is the drawing of the kolam or rangoli on the ground, outside of the entrance to homes. Nowadays, grated coconut is mixed with powered dye and the kolam designs are drawn as decorations. However, according to Nagarajah, originally rice flour was used and more than being decorative, they were actually offerings to the ants and other small insects.
The third day of the festival is Mattu Pongal, usually celebrated on January 15 or 16. This is the festival that celebrates and honours cattle, and their services to agriculture and the farming community.
“People in Colombo very rarely celebrate Mattu Pongal. I guess this is something that is common among farming communities in rural areas. In South India, cow or bull carting races are also a part of the festivities, but we don’t see that happening here,” said Yashanth Krishnamoorthy, a resident of Wellawatte.
Most of his family’s Thai Pongal celebrations have been restricted to their home over the past couple of years due to COVID-19.
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