Pongal

Pongal is a four day harvest festival celebrated in India, beginning on January 13th or 14th. The word Pongal means “overflowing” and “abundance”. It's celebrated as a shift in the season- the end of winter- the day on which the sun begins to move northwards.

The sun is a symbol of wisdom, divine knowledge and spiritual light, and now it turns towards us and blesses us with life and energy.

Each day of Pongal has a slightly different focus and theme: 

Today is called Bhogi Pongal, which means "enjoy abundance"; it's a day to honor the rain god, Indra, for providing rain for the harvest. Today farmers anoint their plows and sickles with sandalwood paste to bless them, then bring in the fresh harvest of rice and sugar cane.

The second day is called Surya Pongal, named for the sun god, Lord Surya. On this day people cook sweet rice at sunrise, and watch for the rice to bubble out of the clay pot. The boiling over symbolizes good luck and prosperity for the family.

The third day is Mattu Pongal, focusing on the cattle who pull the plows. (Mattu means "cow".) The cows are cleaned, decorated and fed treats.

The fourth day is Kanum Pongal. Kanum means "to view": It's a day to visit friends and family.

Agenda for Pongal:

1. House cleaning and blessing
2. Have a fire
3. Make a rangoli
4. Make Pongal Paanai (Sweet Rice)
5. Recite the Surya Mantra

1. House cleaning and blessing:

Cleaning and clearing is a theme for Pongal, as it is for many 'change of season' festivals. Today, on Bhogi Pongal, everyone cleans house and clears out unneeded stuff to make way for the new. Folks burn and get rid of old household items and clothing, and buy new things.

Today I gathered a trailer load of old clothing and books to donate to the thrift store.

I’ve also been doing some deeper cleaning this month, with a focus on mold, and this week I will clean the living room:

• Monday: Dust the furniture and in the corners.
• Tuesday: Clear the toy box and get ready for new baby toys!
• Wednesday: Scrub the mold off the windowsills with detergent and warm water, then use a solution of ¼-cup bleach in 1-quart water. Wait 20 minutes and repeat. Wait another 20 minutes. Apply Borax solution and do not rinse, to help prevent mold from growing again.
• Thursday: Scrub the woodwork around the doors and the baseboards, and touch up the paint.
• Friday: Vacuum the sofa and around the sofa.

When I'm done cleaning, I will light a candle and sit quietly in my living room, watching the birds outside at the feeder.

2. Have a Fire:
The Bhogi fire is, of course, symbolic. Tomorrow the sun shifts to bring us wisdom, life, and energy, and so today we sacrifice our ignorance, delusions, bad habits, attachments, and vices on the fire.

A couple of years ago I celebrated Pongal with my art class students, and they wrote down the things they wanted to clear from their lives-- pollution, sadness, racism-- then we started a small fire in the fire pit, and tossed in our words.

Simpler ceremony: Last year I had a ceremony alone in my room, with a candle, 

and I burned up all of my aches and pains, impatience, laziness, and gluttony.

We made a rangoli on red paper on the kitchen floor.

3. Paint a rangoli:

Women paint new rangoli designs each day for Pongal, onto the floor or the ground outside. Rangoli painting is an art handed down from mother to daughter in all parts of India. The artist uses very simple materials- rice flour, natural colors, and her fingers. In some places, women paint new designs each morning outside the doorway of the house, to protect those who come and go. In India rice flour is thought to have protective power.

I've put together a gallery of Rangoli and how to make them here.

4. Make Pongal Paanai (Sweet Rice):
On the second day, Surya Pongal, people cook sweet rice at sunrise; the pongal pot is the main attraction- it is decorated, and set up on the kitchen floor or in the front yard, with decorations surrounding it and the cooking fire. For the Pongal ceremony, in addition to the food ingredients, you will need a bell and / or a conch shell.

Everyone watches as the rice cooks and the moment the rice bubbles out of the clay pot, someone rings a bell, and everyone shouts "Pongalo-o-o-o Pongal!" The boiling over symbolizes good luck and prosperity for the family.

The Pongal rice is central to this holiday. You can make the rice on the stove in the usual manner, but if at all possible, try to experience the "overflowing" that gives Pongal its name. The Sweet Rice recipe is here.

Waiting for the rice to boil over, so we can ring bells!

5. Recite the Surya Mantra:
A mantra is a phrase which is repeated as a prayer. I will chant this mantra tomorrow, on Surya Pongal:

Om Hrim Sum Suryaya Namaha

(pronounced "Om Hreem Soom Soor-yah-yah Nahm-ah-ha")
which means: “Om and salutations to Surya (the sun), bringer of clarity and dispeller of darkness”. 

For a longer explanation see this site.