Pongal-o-Pongal! melting pot of traditions and celebrations

CHENNAI: On Pongal day, Gurumitraa R and her family members wake up early and go to their ooru kavalan (village deity) temple at Kallal Karaikudi with stainless steel pots, dressed in finery, to fetch water from the temple pond. “Traditionally we use the water to prepare our pongal,” says the graphic designer.

Over the years, the pond’s water has turned murky and so the family does not use it for cooking. “But we still bring the water home as it is considered blessed.”

At the Chennai home of Subbu Subramanian, Pongal is an “intense” and unique celebration. “In most communities, only one pot of pongal is prepared per household.

But in Chettinad households such as mine, every married couple prepare their own pot of pongal — sometimes two, one sweet and one savoury,” says the IT professional.

The brass pots, placed over brass stoves, sit on a square-shaped nadu veetu kolam, symbolising a palatial house and Shiva and Parvati’s family. “Every family boils the rice and does the pujas at an auspicious time set by their native village.”

Whether through age-old rituals or with modern twists, the festival continues to evolve, says cultural historian Meenakshi Devaraj. “In ancient Tamil literature there is no mention of a celebration like today’s Pongal,” she says. “Marudam, the agricultural area in the traditional classification of landscapes, was considered most prosperous. It is celebrated in Sangam literature, with songs for the first plough and harvest.”

She believes the roots of the festival differ from today’s four-day celebrations of Bhogi for cleansing, Thai pongal for the sun, Mattu pongal for cattle, and Kaanum for sight-seeing. “Bhogi likely originated Pongal from the worship of Lord Indra, the rain god (also known as Bhogi), tied to agricultural cycles,” she says. Over time, it evolved into burning old things.

“You find the words ‘puthu yeedu’ (first crop) in Thiruvottiyur temple inscriptions dating to the Chola period (9th-13th centuries) and ‘Thai Thirunaal’ (Thai month festivities) in Vijayanagar dynasty inscriptions (14th-17th centuries),” says Meenakshi.

Phrases used in Pongal greetings such as ‘Pongal vazhthu’ too have their roots in the 2,000-year-old Sangam poems. “The edible pongal, as an offering, isn’t new either, appearing in Sangam songs to herald a prosperous future.”

Pongal is also documented in historical accounts. ‘Hindu manners, customs and ceremonies’ by French missionary Jean Antoine Dubois (1815) mentions how the feast of “pongul” was marked with relatives presenting new earthen vessels with designs “traced in lime”. “Such gifts are conveyed with much solemnity and accompanied by instruments of music,” writes Dubois.

“These little attentions are indispensable in the case of certain individuals. For instance, a mother must not neglect giving presents to her married daughter; otherwise, the mother-inlaw would resent the omission to her dying day.”

On the second day, ‘Surya-pongul’, observes Dubois, on “meeting each other, the first words exchanged are, ‘Has the rice boiled?’ to which the answer is, ‘It has boiled’.” He also writes that the word Pongal is derived from ‘pongedi’ in Telugu and ‘pongaradu’ in Tamil, both meaning “to boil”.

Notes on Pongal from ‘Hindu feasts, fasts and ceremonies’ by S M Natesan Sastri (1903) talks about how on Surya Pongal, rajas would give large sums in charity and grant rewards to Hindu scholars.Even the British seem to have played a role in shaping the Pongal holiday.

In 1806, says the Asiatic Annual Register, Lord William Bentinck, governor of Madras, ordered public offices to close for the festival’s first three days. There was a gun salute from Fort St George on the morning of the first day, says Meenakshi.

“Year by year, the celebration gets longer and more diverse, incorporating different elements of Tamil heritage. Thiruvalluvar Day, which honours the Tamil poet, has become part of it too,” she says.

In Periyar Nagar, a group of activists celebrate ‘Samathuva Pongal’ (secular Pongal) on Jan 11, where people from all castes and religions celebrate Tamil culture without prejudices. For the past three years, the organisers have been spotlighting Tamil folk arts, with this year’s focus being parai isai, villupattu, oyilattam, karagattam and Tamil rap.

“Though we have different names, sometimes with a caste tagged to it, and we belong to different religions, beneath it all we are humans. That’s the core idea of the event,” says organiser Shanmuganathan A.

(with inputs by Muskaan Ahmed)