Thai Pongal

Thai Pongal (Tamil: தைப்பொங்கல்) is a Tamil harvest festival. Thai Pongal is a four day festival which according to the Gregorian calendar is normally celebrated from January 13 to January 16, but sometimes it is celebrated from January 14 to January 17. This corresponds to the last day of the Tamil month Maargazhi to the third day of the Tamil month Thai.

Thai Pongal is one of the most important festivals celebrated by Tamil people in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the Indian Union Territory of Puducherry,Sri Lanka, as well as Tamils worldwide, including those in Malaysia,Mauritius, South Africa,USA, Singapore,Canada and UK. Thai Pongal corresponds to Makara Sankranthi, the winter harvest festival celebrated throughout India.

The day marks the start of the sun’s six-month-long journey northwards (the Uttarayanam). This also corresponds to the Indic solstice when the sun purportedly enters the 10th house of the Indian zodiac Makara or Capricorn. Thai Pongal is mainly celebrated to convey appreciation to the Sun God for providing the energy for agriculture. Part of the celebration is the boiling of the first rice of the season consecrated to the Sun - the Surya Maangalyam.

Pongal (dish)

Pongal is a popular rice dish in Tamil Nadu, and the Tamil cuisine of Sri Lanka. In Tamil, the root pong or pongu means to " boil over" or "spill over".

There are two varieties of pongal, Sakarai Pongal which is a sweet, and Ven Pongal, made from clarified butter. The unqualified word pongal usually refers to spicy pongal in Tamil Nadu, and is a common breakfast food in Tamil Nadu. The rice boiled with milk and jaggery during the Pongal festival is also called pongal - this is sweet pongal made specially in earthenware pots with a wood fire.

Types of pongal

Sakarai pongal

Sakarai pongal (lit. jaggery pongal) is generally prepared in temples as a prasadam, (an offering made to a deity, as a thanksgiving). This type of pongal is prevalent in pongal festivals such as Thai Pongal) in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, India.

Ingredients can include rice, coconut and mung bean. Sakarai pongal is traditionally sweetened with jaggery, which gives the pongal a brown colour, though it can be sweetened with white sugar instead.