Happy Pongal

Today is Pongal, a harvest festival, and the major festival of the Tamil year.

Yesterday was Bogi, when people clean their houses and burn old things. Nowadays people also burn tires - although the police have tried to crack down on that practice, which is very hard on people with lung problems - as well as wood and cow-dung. When I came downstairs yesterday morning, I looked out the window and saw everything grey with smoke. I thought there must be a big fire somewhere, but I couldn't see anything - the sun was pale, red, and barely visible. I asked Mary if she knew what had happened, and she laughed and said it was Bogi, and everyone was burning something.

There's a nice article explaining the meaning and practices during the four days of the festival at Bawarchi.com, along with a recipe for the sweet, sakkarai pongal, which everyone makes today. One has to let the milk boil over, to signify plenty, a successful harvest.

I love the third day of Pongal, Maatu Pongal, when people who own cattle bathe and decorate them, and paint their horns. There is something very attractive about a freshly decorated bullock.

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There's another, even more decorated, bullock, and a personal look at Pongal by an outsider, at the interesting City of Boiled Beans.

While I was looking for a painted bullock, I stumbled on a set of good travel photographs, of Chennai and farther south, here.

Mary made a special kolam for Pongal today, and decided to include a message in English, which she doesn't know. So if you come to visit me, you'll find 'HAPPY POGAL' written at the doorstep.