Finding the one: A woman checking out ponggal pots for sale at Little India in Klang. — KK SHAM/The Star
KLANG: The four-day Ponggal festival, celebrated by Tamils on Jan 13, is a time for thanksgiving and a new start among the community where it marks the beginning of the auspicious Tamil month of Thai.
The Tamil Hindus dedicate the festival to Sun God Lord Surya, Rain God Lord Indra and the cattle, which plays a pivotal role in agriculture, while the non-Hindus celebrate Ponggal as thanksgiving for a bountiful harvest.
Joseph John Kennedy, 42, a Roman Catholic, who observes the harvest festival, said it will be celebrated at his church in Klang.
“We boil milk and cook the sweet rice, as well as serve our congregation a vegetarian lunch on that day,’’ he said.
He said it is the practice for farmers in India to use the first harvest of rice and vegetables to prepare Ponggal meals.
As for G. Sharvan, 37, he recalls happy childhood memories celebrating Ponggal at his late grandmother’s house in Sungai Siput, Perak.
“My grandmother came from a village at Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu, India, and hence our Ponggal celebrations had always been very traditional.
“Her whole house would be thoroughly cleaned days before the festival and the entrance would be decorated with mango leaves, sugar cane as well as fresh turmeric plant,’’ reminisced Sharvan.
The Ponggal celebration also symbolises new beginnings and kick-starts with Bhogi where unwanted items are cleared and burnt to connote the destruction of negative elements from the previous year.
But since open burning is not allowed, Malaysian Tamils discard unwanted items minus the raging bonfire.
For the Hindus, Bhogi is also a day to honour Lord Indra, depicted as the god of rain, lightning and storms.
The highlight of the festival is the second day, which is dubbed Surian Ponggal where the Hindus honour Lord Surya, while non-Hindus enjoy the bounty provided by the fertile land and thank the Almighty for it.
It is on this day that families dress up in new clothes and the house is colourfully decorated with thoranam (coconut leaves), mango leaves and beautiful kolam, among others.
New and decorated clay pots are also used to boil milk, ideally in front of the house facing the rising sun, during the auspicious hour stated in the Tamil Panchangam (calendar).
It is common practice for Tamil Christians who observe the festival to paint a cross on the earthen ponggal pot to decorate it.Happy shouts of “Pongalo Ponggal” greet the overflowing of boiling milk and rice, and sugar, raisins, cashews, as well as ghee are added to make the sweet Ponggal rice.
A scrumptious multi-dish vegetarian lunch follows in the afternoon where more sweet delicacies like payasam and kesari are served.
On the third day, which is the Mattu (cow) Ponggal, cows are bathed, decorated and honoured for the big role they play in agriculture, as well as providing milk for human sustenance.
In Malaysia, Mattu Ponggal is usually observed at Indian-owned dairy farms and it is common for those from the cities to go to these farms to participate in the celebrations.
The final day of Ponggal, which is known as Kaanum Ponggal, is a day for families to gather, and women offer prayers to Lord Surya for the well-being of their male relatives.
Kaanum Ponggal is also tied together with Kanni Ponggal where prayers and blessings are offered for unmarried women for their future happiness and fertility.
