#Pongal celebrations in Tamil Nadu #Festival 5

We, South Indians, await our main festival Pongal with great glee in the month of January, as this is the time we get to interact with family, cousins and extended family members. This year, Pongal celebrations fall between 14^th to 17^th January, it is the time we reverently worship the forces of nature like the Sun and the rain and thank them for giving us a plentiful harvest. 

Lord Indra gives us adequate rain. Dedicated to Lord Indra, the first day of Bhogi pongal, as this tradition is called, is full of joy and merriment. It is fascinating to watch young girls dance around a bonfire kept burning with mud, wood and cowdung. 

Prayers are offered to the Sun God on the second day marking the main festival of Pongal. On this day we create beautiful rangolis with rice flour in front of the house and wear new traditional clothes. We wait for the auspicious time, to tie a turmeric plant around a curved pot and decorate it with haldi kumkum. Milk is allowed to boil and overflow in this vessel symbolically for prosperity and well being to overflow in the family. A delicious sweet porridge of milk, rice, dhal and sugar is prepared as offering for the Sun God along with sugarcane, and the mandatory betel leaves, betel nuts, coconut and yellow bananas.  

Mattu Pongal follows on the third day when prayers are offered to the cows which help the farmers in so many ways. Everywhere in Tamil Nadu, we can see colorful sights of cows decorated with garlands and tilak wearing a string of colourful beads and bells around the cow’s neck. Puja and arati is performed. The famous Jalli kattu or bull fight is also organized in villages. Kannum Pongal is a traditional feature on the final day, when a turmeric leaf is washed and kept in the open courtyard on which rice, betel leaves, nuts, turmeric, coconut etc. are placed. In some places, arati is performed for the brothers by the sisters, who pray for the prosperity of their families.

As we all know no festival is complete without food delicacies and Pongal is no exception. The Sakkarai Pongal and the Venn Pongal are symbolic of the festival, simple and delicious, yet highly nutritious too.

Here are the recipes for you to prepare and enjoy.

Sakkarai Pongal

Ingredients:

Raw Rice – 1 cup
Yellow Moong Dhal – 1/4 cup
Milk – 1 litre
Jaggery – 2 cups (grated)
Cashews – 3 tablespoons
Raisins – 3 tablespoons
Powdered Cardamom – ½ teaspoon
Ghee – 3 tablespoons


Method:

Roast the moong dhal in a teaspoon of ghee till it slightly changes color. Remove on to a bowl and soak it along with raw rice in water for 10 minutes. Strain it to remove water.

Take a vessel and boil milk. Add  the soaked and strained rice and dhal to the milk and cook on low flame till the rice is cooked. Mash it up with a spoon and keep aside.

Add the jaggery to water and bring to a boil. Strain to remove impurities. Add this jaggery water to the milk, rice and dhal mixture. Stir well on a low flame till they are completely mixed.

Take a pan and pour the rest of the ghee in it. Fry Cashews and raisins in the ghee to a golden brown and add the pongal mixture. Stir on low flame till they blend well. Add cardamom powder and mix.

Your Sakkarai Pongal is ready to serve.

Venn Pongal

Ingredients

Yellow Moong Dhal – 1/2  cup

Raw Rice -  3/4 cup

Ghee – ¼ cup

Cashew nuts – 2 tablespoons

Ginger sliced or minced – ½ teaspoon (optional)

Green chilly chopped -1 (optional)

Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon

Black pepper – 1 teaspoon

Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Salt to taste

Method

Roast the moong dhal in a teaspoon of ghee till it slightly changes color and gives off a lovely smell. Remove on to a bowl and soak it along with raw rice in water for 10 minutes. Cook the dhal and rice together in a pressure cooker with 3 ½ cups of water for 6 to 7 whistles. Grind the pepper and cumin to a coarse powder after dry roasting.

 Heat the ghee in a pan. Fry the broken cashew nuts to a golden brown. Add ginger, curry leaves and green chilly (optional). Roast on a low flame. Add in the pepper-cumin mixture and roast for a few seconds. Pour the cooked rice-dhal mixture and add salt to taste. Stir till the entire mixture blends well.

Your Venn Pongal is ready to serve.

#Pongal #SarkaraiPongal #VennPongal #Recipe #BhogiPandigai #MattuPongal #Jallikattu

#Thiruvadhira #festival celebrations in Kerala and Tamil Nadu #Festival 4

On the occasion of Thiruvadhira festival on 30th December  2020, I wish to share an excerpt from my book 'Kerala the Divine Destination'. 

Thiruvadhira is celebrated as the birthday of Lord Shiva as thiruvadhira is known as the nakshatra (star) of Lord Shiva. There is also a belief that this was the day when Kamdev was reduced to ashes by the opening of the third eye of Lord Shiva and a solution was found for his resurrection. This is believed to be the day that Lord Shiva accepted Goddess Parvathi as his consort after her long penance. Thiruvadhira in Kerala is celebrated in a grand manner in all Shiva temples in Kerala and it corresponds to the Ardhara Darshanam of Tamil Nadu, which is celebrated on a very grand scale as an annual utsavam in Chidambaram.

The legend behind the festival is very interesting. Lord Shiva was the only one amongst all the Devas who was not invited by Dakshan, the father of Goddess Sati, for the Maha Yagna which he was performing. However, though the Lord warned her about the consequences of being an uninvited guest albeit at her father’s house, Sati went for the Yagna. She was ignored and forced to hear her husband insulted by her father, upon which she immolated herself in the sacrificial fire. She was reborn as Goddess Parvathy, the daughter of Himavan and Myenadevi, and did penance for a long time for securing Lord Shiva as her husband. Meanwhile, an Asura named Tarakasur, acquired the boon of not meeting death at the hands of anyone except the combined power of Shiva and Shakti. The Lord was in meditation and nobody had the courage to disturb Him, but the Devas unable to bear the torture of Tarakasur instructed Kamdev to lure Lord Shiva with his cupid’s arrow to Goddess Parvathy who was doing penance and serving the Lord. Shiva was furious at being disturbed and opened his third eye to reduce Kamdev to ashes. Being pleased with her long penance, and recognizing his beloved Sati in this new Avatar, He accepted Parvathy as his consort. Rati, the wife of Kamdev wept at Lord Shiva’s feet, and being persuaded by Goddess Parvathy gave the solution for the resurrection of Kamdev as Lord Krishna’s son. An important part of the festival is the 'Ettangadi chuduka' , during which, eight different tubers are roasted in the fire. It is believed that Kamadeva's body is represented by the tubers and by this ritual, his body is resurrected.Thiruvadira being the day that Lord Shiva accepted Parvathi as his consort, the festival is more woman centric as women from the traditional Malayali families fast for the well being of their husbands and marital bliss, whereas unmarried women undertake the fast to get a good husband.

The day starts early in the morning with a visit and prayers to the nearest Shiva temple before sunrise in traditional attire.The women then prepare the Kanzhi – puzhukku for the meal. The Kanzhi is made of broken wheat. The Thiruvadira puzhukku is a delicious concoction of chembu (colocasia), chenai (yam), koorkai (chinese potato), Madhurakizhangu (Sweet potato) , all tubers, with payaru (red cow beans) and kaaya (raw banana).They are cooked with salt and freshly ground coconut. Another speciality of the Thiruvadira meal is the koova payasam, a sweet dish made of arrow root powder, jaggery and coconut milk. Even the women who are fasting can have these items as they do not contain rice and fasting during Thiruvadhira means abstaining from consumption of rice for the Malayali women. In Palakkad, the same pattern of early morning visit to the Shiva temple is followed. However their meal consists of Kali and Kootu.









The women gather for the song and dance routine, so typical of the festival, on the day prior to Thiruvadhira on the Makeeram star, which lasts through the night. A big brass lamp (nelavilakku) is placed in the middle and the women form a circle around it. They start dancing with swaying movements and clapping of hands to the rhythm of the song that is first sung by the leader and repeated by the group members. They start with the invocation of Ganapathy and Goddess Saraswathy. The Thiruvathira pattu (songs) are simple yet full of meaning. Their lyrics are about Parvathi’s love and longing for Shiva, her penance and the description Shiva’s power and divinity. The dance of Kaikottikali has been performed during Thiruvadira for ages and the hand movements and dance gestures are common to the region.The dress for the dancers is very traditional. It consists of two pieces, a cream coloured dhoti (mundu) and an upper garment (neriyathu) of the same colour. Generally there is a gold coloured border for both the garments.

At midnight there is a ceremony called pathira poochoodal, when the women will adorn the dasapushpam (10 important medicinal flowers) on their hair with utmost devotion. The pathirapoochoodal ceremony for a newly wedded bride is even more special and is called poothiruvadhira. The dance then continues until the wee hours of dawn. In the midst of all the ritual there is a unique ritual of consuming 108 betel leaves with scented arecanuts by the women. These leaves are first offered to Lord Shiva and then taken and chewed.


#Thiruvadhira #Festival #Kerala #TamilNadu #Chidambaram #Kaikottikali #LordShiva