The Unknown Festival ~ Thai Pongal

IT WAS ONLY TWO DAYS AGO THAT THERE IS A CELEBRATION NOT REALLY KNOWN BY ANY MALAYSIANS, PROBABLY BECAUSE IT WASN’T REALLY CELEBRATED IN MALAYSIA, IT DID NOT GRAB MUCH ATTENTION OF OTHERS, OR PROBABLY BECAUSE IT DOES NOT HAVE ANY HOLIDAYS, THEREFORE, THERE AREN’T ANY CELEBRATION… BUT IT IS STILL OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO KNOW AND TO RESPECT THE OTHER RACES.

Thai Pongal was what happened two days ago, celebrated all over Malaysia, that not many races and not many people even knew about the celebration, as it wasn’t celebrated largely in the country itself, despite knowing as a multiracial country. But regardless what happens, it is still our responsibility to know and to find out on what the Thai Pongal is all about. By the way, the word “Thai” doesn’t reflect Thailand, instead it reflects something else.

According to Wikipedia, Thai Pongal (Tamil: தைப்பொங்கல்) is a harvest festival celebrated by Tamils in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Indian Union Territory of Puducherry and in Sri Lanka. Pongal coincides with the festival Makara Sankranthi celebrated throughout India. Pongal in Tamil means “boiling over” or “spill over”. The boiling over of milk in the clay pot symbolizes material abundance for the household. Thai Pongal, celebrated at harvest time, is traditionally intended to thank the Sun God and farmstead livestock that helped created the material abundance.

In addition, the saying “Thai Pirandhal Vazhi Pirakkum” (தை பிறந்தால் வழி பிறக்கும்) means “the commencement of Thai paves the way for new opportunities” is often quoted regarding the Pongal festival. The festival usually occurs from January 13 – 15 in the Gregorian calendar (in layman’s term: our normal calendar la), which is the last day of the Tamil month Maargazhi to the third day of Thai.

Moreover, Pongal is traditionally dedicated to the Sun God Surya. Tamils thank the solar deity for the good harvest and consecrate the first grain to him on this ‘Surya Mangalya’. The holiday denotes the starts of the Tamil month of Thai (தை) as it marks the day when the Sun purportedly shifts northwards to signify the commencement of Uttarayana, which represents the northward journey of Sun. The day gets longer in the Tamil lands. Thai Pongal falls on Makara Sankranthi celebrated throughout India as the winter harvest. This also represents the Indic solstice when the sun purportedly enters the 10th house of the Indian zodiac, e.g. Makara or Capricorn.

Perhaps all of these information, you might not understand thoroughly on what is happening, but at least it would be able to provide you a little guideline on what is actually happening during this festival. Therefore, although it is simply not another holiday for the nation, but at least greet the Indians in the country as it makes them feel like a part of us. We are a nation, remember?

Source: Wikipedia