Pongal is a festival of abundance celebrated by Tamil people throughout Southeast Asia, both in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. It typically falls in the middle of January, celebrating the end of the winter Solstice. Pongal is a celebration of Surya, the sun deity as well as Ganesh. A gifted Aurovilian photographer, Kripa Borg-Pion, has shared some of her images of this years Pongal with us. We happy to share these images of Auroville’s neighboring villages and their celebrations with you.
The first day, Bhogi Pongal, is a day of new beginnings when old belongings are discarded into bonfires. Cows horns are painted with bright colors, and the cows themselves are decorated with flower garlands, embroidered fabrics, balloons, and pigment.
The second day, Surya Pongal is the main day, and a celebration of Surya, the sun god. A delicious dish of rice, milk, jaggery, spices like cardamom, raisins and cashews is cooked until it boils over to celebrate the meaning of the word Pongal, meaning “to boil over”. As the dish begins to boil and overflow out of the vessel, a conch is blown and called the sanggu while others shout with joy “Pongalo Pongal”! “may this rice boil over”. Homes, now clear of old belongings, are decorated with banana and mango leaves and the entrance space before homes, corridors or doors with kolams using decorative floral, festive or geometric patterns of colored rice flour.
The third day, Mattu Pongal is a celebration of the village cows and oxen. Mattu means “cow”, and Tamil people regard cattle as bestowers of wealth through their multifaceted gifts of milk, butter and dung. Providing transportation and helping local farms. On Mattu Pongal, cattle are decorated – sometimes with flower garlands or painted horns, they are offered bananas, a special meal and worshipped.
