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Tuesday January 30, 2007

Events make Ponggal a fun day

Story and photos by ALLISON LAI

MALACCA: The rain did not stop the young and old and even tourists from crowding Padang Nyiru in Jalan Laksamana for the recent Ponggal Festival 2007.

Other than being a traditional festival that denotes thanksgiving to God, it was one of the events listed under the Visit Malaysia 2007 programme.

Attractive design: Contestant Taranee Moorthy concentrating on her pot colouring.
The mass Ponggal cooking, pot colouring contest, henna drawing contest, Indian martial art Silambam demonstration, Indian dance presentation and Indian traditional food fair were some of the activities enjoyed by locals as well as tourists.

Shuba Shree Malar, 36, who runs an Indian sweetmeats shop in Jalan Bendahara, was at hand to sell Palgova, Laddu and Vadeh, said to be made from traditional recipes from northern India.

“Ponggal Festival is a traditional event for us. We are happy to be able to come here to give support with what we have,” said Shuba.

Several tourists came to know about the event by chance.

Keeping watch: The priest and members of the public waiting for the milk to boil during the mass Ponggal cooking.
“We were walking past the street and saw the event. We have been to India and had heard of Ponggal so we just joined in the fun.

“And everything was so exciting. Even the Ponggal rice tastes great,” said travellers Jackie Horne and Mark Pashley from England.

A tourist from Holland, who wanted to be identified only as Josje, said the guesthouse she stayed at had given her information about the festival.

“It is something new and special for me. I did not know what Ponggal was previously,” said Josje.

Other than tourists from the west, there were visitors from Malaysia's nearest neighbour.

Singaporean Nicole Seah and her partner were fascinated by the festival, saying it was somewhat different in their country.

“We do have something similar, but they celebrate it on a much smaller scale, like in a temple. But here things are really happening,” said Seah.

‘Ponggal is held during the Tamil month of “Thai”, which is between January and February. The celebrations involve boiling milk in a clay pot until it overflows, after which rice and sugar is added. This is done to thank God for the bountiful harvest and for continued good harvests.

Organised by the Indian Martial Art Silambam Society, a variety of activities were held making the event merrier despite the earlier rain that had delayed the start of the festival.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam was present to launch Ponggal Festival 2007.

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