Happy Pongal Na Valthukal to our CPSC friends in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and other countries with Tamil communities! May this holiday bring you happiness, prosperity, good health and peace to you and your loved ones!
Pongal is a multi-day Hindu harvest festival celebrated by Tamils. To mark the festival, the pongal dish is prepared, first offered to the gods and goddesses, including Surya. Mattu Pongal is for worship of the cow known as Madu. Cattles are bathed, their horns polished and painted in bright colors, and garlands of flowers placed around their necks. The pongal that has been offered to the deities is then given to cattle and then shared by the family. Festive celebrations include decorating cows and their horns, ritual bathing and processions. It is traditionally an occasion for decorating rice-powder based kolam artworks, offering prayers in the home, temples, getting together with family and friends, and exchanging gifts to renew social bonds of solidarity.
