Thai Pongal

Culture of origin: Hindu · Cultural

Holiday sources: Hinduism

Thai Pongal is the Tamil harvest festival, dedicated to the sun god Surya, on the first day of the Tamil month Thai, usually January 14 or 15. Rice is boiled with milk and jaggery in an earthen pot set in the sun, and when it boils over people blow conches and shout "Pongalo pongal!" ("may this rice boil over"); the dish is offered first to Surya and then shared. It is the second of up to four days: Bhogi before it, when old belongings are burnt in a bonfire, then Mattu Pongal for the cattle and Kaanum Pongal. Tamils keep it in Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka and wherever they live.