In India, there is a celebration called Pongal which is the harvest festival; like Thanksgiving. Pongal is one of the longest festivals in the Tamil calendar (4 whole days!!!) and is celebrated on the 15 of January. I like Pongal because you get to wear new clothes and eat delicious food. Some of the food that you eat are pongal (a popular rice dish), chakra pongal (sweet pongal) and tasty sugar cane! Also, everyone is joyful during Pongal. After all, it is a festival of harvest and who doesn't like having a lot of crops? So now that you have learned about this fantastic festival, would you rather celebrate Thanksgiving or Pongal?
Wow, it all sounds so amazing! I think it would be fun to participate in it. Did you know that the first ever Pongal was held more than 1000 years ago? I think it would be better to celebrate Pongal than Thanksgiving because Pongal has additional traditions they do. I also think that having crops after the festival is so fantastic! It would be way more fun doing at the festival than going grocery shopping any other day.You should check out Michael’s post about the other holidays, traditions and dishes about India.
ReplyDeletePongal sounds like such a festive time of year! I would honestly rather celebrate Pongal instead of Thanksgiving because there’s so many interesting traditions for Pongal that we don’t have for Thanksgiving. For example, on the first day of Pongal, girls dance around a bonfire and sing songs praising the gods, spring, and the harvest. On the second day, rice is boiled in milk in earthen pots outside, then symbolically offered to the sun god. On the third day, people worship and race cattle. The energy in the air is very festive. On the fourth and final day of Pongal, a turmeric leaf is washed and placed on the ground. Then left overs of sweet Pongal and Ven Pongal, rice, betel leaves, betel nuts, two pieces of sugarcane, turmeric leaves, and plantains are placed on top of the leaf. The rice is put in the middle of the leaf, while the women ask the brothers of the family what they wish to succeed in. Arati (a Hindu religious ritual of worship) is performed for the brothers using turmeric water, limestone, and rice. The water is then sprinkled on the kolam (a form of drawing that is done by drawing with flour/chalk/chalk powder/white rock powder) in front of the house. I definitely think all that sounds super cool, and I hope you did too!
ReplyDeleteYou should also check out Marie’s post on Holi, the festival of colors because I remember you saying that you thought Holi was a very entertaining and fun festival. Plus, Holi is also another popular festival that is celebrated in India!