The festival of harvest, Pongal, is being celebrated by Tamil-speaking people all over the World. This is also the beginning of spring in the Tamil calendar. The Thai month brings about new beginnings in all aspects of life in Tamil society. It is considered auspicious for the wedding’s new business. On this day, the reaps after harvest is offered to the Sun, which helps in agriculture.

Thai piranthal vazhi pirakkum’ is an old saying which means the birth of this month will make a way for things to be accomplished. People travel to their native places to celebrate the festival with family and relatives. The streets in villages are festive to the eyes as a mini pandal would be made with sugarcanes and a new mud pot would be kept in the midst of the Rangoli.

The mudpot will be decorated with turmeric plants and pongal is cooked with rice, milk and jaggery. The fun part is when the mudpot overflows the family shout pongalo pongal.which means bounty after bounty. The people also preserve a set of seeds during this day after offering the produce to the Sun. The favourite dish at homes will be pongal and vada with chutney and sambar for breakfast.

The menu for the lunch will have six different tastes, The State Government operated special buses from Capital Chennai to various parts of the State. Lakhs of people had booked their tickets for buses, rail and air. Pongal celebration also put people on the roads and traffic policemen on their toes late night yesterday for regulation of traffic. Ration card holders were also awarded Rs. 3000 as pongal gift along with sugarcane.

Pongal season is also the favourite time for release of new blockbusters but this year it was not so. Chennai Sangamam, a folk and cultural festival, will be a part of the spectacle as folk dancers will dance to the tunes of the reverberating drums in more than 20 public places . A food festival at Chennai is also an addition to the celebration of Pongal.