India is known as the Land of Festivals. Each and every Festival is celebrated with huge enthusiasm and zeal. It depicts our culture. The word Pongal is taken from the Tamil literature which signifies ‘to boil’.
Digging into the history, it is said to be an ancient festival of South India and most importantly Tamils. It’s a festival related to harvest. It is celebrated for four long days. It falls in the months of January – February. This year it will fall on January 14th. It is celebrated during the solar equinox. It is celebrated by harvesting of crops of rice, sugarcane, rabi and turmeric, etc.
Pongal Festival – Date History, Significance & Celebration
Pongal is four-day festival and each and every day is celebrated with huge enthusiasm and zeal. The first day of this festival is known as Bhogi, second day is known as Thai Pongal, third day is known as Muttu Pongal and fourth day is known as Kaanum Pongal.
Digging into the history of Pongal it can be said that it is related to the Sangam Age and is considered to be the “Dravidian Harvest Festival”.
It is said that as per the legends, during this festival season, the unmarried girls prayed for the agricultural prosperity of the nation. This purpose as people observe penance during the Tamil month called Margazhi. They acquire the consumption of milk and milk products, they don’t oil hair throughout the month. Harsh words are most importantly refrained by them. The ritual followed by almost everyone is the ceremonial bath.
Pongal Date:
Pongal Date 2020: January 15
Pongal Date 2021: January 14
Pongal Date 2022: January 14
As per the Hindu mythology, it is said that Lord Shiva asked a Bull also known as Basava once to visit on Earth and ask to human to have an oil massage and bath every day. But the Basava (bull) announced that eat daily and have an oil bath once a month. This make Lord Shiva angry and furious and he cursed the basava to live on Earth for the rest of his life. Basava was told by Lord Shiva to plough the fields and help the people of Earth to produce more food. Therefore, people after harvesting celebrate this festival with crops and cattle them.
Pongal is a significant festival for the South India most importantly. It is considered as a ‘thanksgiving’ festival. The Festival is celebrated to thank the God of Sun and Lord Indra for helping the farmers in making and getting better crops every year.
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