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Pongal Celebration at Sonayukti's Ponnamaravathi centre.

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Sona Yukti wishes everyone a Happy Pongal!

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(Mysore, 2017). Every January, a festival known as ‘Pongol’ is celebrated in India’s southern states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It lasts four days and is a thanksgiving ceremony for the rice harverst. As well as celebrating the rain, sun and farm animals, a large part of the festival gives thanks to cattle for their contributions to the harvest. To do so, they’re bathed in turmeric water which is believed to have medicinal properties, turning them yellow for at least a month. In the evening cattle owners, the public and the cattle jump over rows of fire which is a ‘purification’ ceremony. Cattle are then blessed and given a specially prepared plate of food which includes coconut, raw cane sugar and rice.

As legend goes, Lord Shiva sent his bull, Basava, to earth with a message asking people to have an oil massage and bath daily, and to eat once a month. Instead, Basava mistakenly announced Shiva has asked people to eat daily and have an oil bath once a month. Enraged, Shiva banished Basava to the earth forever, cursing he would have to plough the fields to help people produce more food. Hence, the association of this day to cattle.