India Post News Service
FREMONT, CA: Pongal is a harvest festival dedicated to the sun celebrated by the Tamil people. It is one of the most important celebrations in the Tamil calendar. With more than 76 million people living around the world, the Tamil community celebrated Pongal in a number of countries across the globe including Canada, South Africa, Britain, Singapore, America and Malaysia.
The harvest festival dates back to more than 1,000 years. It is thought that it relates back to the celebration of Puthiyeedu during the Medieval Cholas Empire – one of the greatest empires in South India in the ninth century. Puthiyeedu is thought to represent the first year of the harvest. Pongal is a four-day harvest and thanksgiving festival that marks the start of spring, and is marked by the symbolic act of boiling rice and milk in a new clay pot till it overflows.
On Jan 20, Bay Area Tamil Manram celebrated Pongal at Lake Elizabeth, Fremont. The event was attended by hundreds of Tamilians and their families. The scene was set as village back home in Tamil Nadu and the festivities included families boiling Pongal with their traditional music, costumes and last but not the least, fresh sugarcane. Unity, peace and brotherhood can be very well observed during the celebration of different festivals on our incredible land. The scene is no different during the Pongal celebrations, when people of different communities come together to celebrate the harvest.
The intention behind the Pongal Vizha at Lake Elizabeth was to honor the great traditions that are held aloft by Tamil people for several generations. This beginning made in 2018 is a trendsetter which is going to shape many such events at the Bay area in the coming months and years, Daya PV, BATM President said.
Vidya Sethuraman
