Rakhi
January 12th, 2010, 10:02 AM
Not sure how many of you actually celebrate Pongal but it is coming up on 14th of this month. I just wanted to share how we used to celebrate this festival when I was a little girl....em, actually until I left India.
For those of you who do not know what Pongal is, it is a festival of harvest (just like Thanksgiving). It is celebrated in the honor of Sun God for being helpful in their harvest; sakkarai pongal (rice made with sugar, dry fruits and ghee) is offered as prashad.
When my grand pa was alive (about 2 decades ago) we used to go to their home to celebrate Pongal. We used to get 10 days holidays for this and since mom was also working in school we always used to go there as family.
As early as 3:00 in the morning my grand ma, mom and 5 of our aunts used to wake up to put Kolam (rangoli). Most of other ladies in the neighbor hood would do the same! There used to be healthy competition as to whose kolam is big, neat and colorful. Apparently this tradition dates back to Indus valley civilization. I caught a few tips while helping mom but never mastered kolam the way she did.
OK...by the time kolam is done it used to be at least 6:00 AM. We all used to shower, change into new cloths and used to gather under a huge mango tree in the backyard. There my grand pa used to set up a 'portable stove' made with 3 big stones and firewood. he used to decorate clay pot with some colors and flowers. Both grandparents then used to cook sakkarai pongal in that clay pot and portable stove. We all used to sing a few songs (tamil).
We also used to do some special Pooja(not sure what we did).
After that all i remember is that we children used to play while ladies used to make themselves busy with cooking or shopping for new sarees/bangles (yeah...portable shops on wheels!).
So...over all a great festival fo me. unfortunately this year, since we are in the middle of home renovation, I dont think I will even get a chance to light a diya, let alone make this a special.
Please do share your experiences too!
For those of you who do not know what Pongal is, it is a festival of harvest (just like Thanksgiving). It is celebrated in the honor of Sun God for being helpful in their harvest; sakkarai pongal (rice made with sugar, dry fruits and ghee) is offered as prashad.
When my grand pa was alive (about 2 decades ago) we used to go to their home to celebrate Pongal. We used to get 10 days holidays for this and since mom was also working in school we always used to go there as family.
As early as 3:00 in the morning my grand ma, mom and 5 of our aunts used to wake up to put Kolam (rangoli). Most of other ladies in the neighbor hood would do the same! There used to be healthy competition as to whose kolam is big, neat and colorful. Apparently this tradition dates back to Indus valley civilization. I caught a few tips while helping mom but never mastered kolam the way she did.
OK...by the time kolam is done it used to be at least 6:00 AM. We all used to shower, change into new cloths and used to gather under a huge mango tree in the backyard. There my grand pa used to set up a 'portable stove' made with 3 big stones and firewood. he used to decorate clay pot with some colors and flowers. Both grandparents then used to cook sakkarai pongal in that clay pot and portable stove. We all used to sing a few songs (tamil).
We also used to do some special Pooja(not sure what we did).
After that all i remember is that we children used to play while ladies used to make themselves busy with cooking or shopping for new sarees/bangles (yeah...portable shops on wheels!).
So...over all a great festival fo me. unfortunately this year, since we are in the middle of home renovation, I dont think I will even get a chance to light a diya, let alone make this a special.
Please do share your experiences too!