Hi friends.......last 17 February our Indian Cultural Society of Kolej Pendeta Zaba (the place where I stay at UKM now) celebrated Ponggal Festival (Harvest Festival). The theme of the festival is "Zaba Varnangal" which means "Colors of Zaba".
Ponggal is a four days long harvest festival celebrated by Indian community. The first day is celebrated as ‘Bhogi’ festival. Homage is paid to Lord Indra for the abundance of harvest, thereby bringing plenty and prosperity to the land. Therefore, useless houseold articles are thrown into a fire made of wood and cow-dung cakes. On the second day of ponggal celebration, ‘Thai Ponggal’ is celebrated by boiling fresh milk early in the morning and allowing it to boil over the vessel is a tradition that is the literal translation for ponggal and a special dish is cooked which is called ‘Sarkkarai Ponggal’. The special dish is offered to the Sun God with sugarcane sticks. The third day of ponggal is dedicated to cattle and is called ‘Mattu Ponggal’. For instance, multi-colored beads, tinkling bells, sheaves of corn and flower garlands are tied around the neck of the cattle. Thus, ‘Mattu Ponggal’ is days when cattle are given a well deserved day of rest and are given pride of place. Therefore, the farmers honor their cattle friends by celebrating it as a day of thanks giving to them. The fourth day is termed as ‘Kaanum Ponggal’. It is dedicated to the sun god, Surya and has its roots in ancient ‘Brahminical’ tradition because without the Sun, harvests will not be plentiful. This is because the Sun is the symbol of life on earth.
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