Pongal 2021: Date, History, Importance, and Significance

Pongal 2021 Date: This festival is dedicated to the Sun god. It corresponds to Makar Sankranti, also a harvest festival celebrated in various parts of the country

By: Lifestyle Desk

New Delhi | January 13, 2021 09:10 AM IST

2 min read

Pongal 2021 Date: The festival will begin on January 14. (file)

Pongal 2021 Date: Pongal is a multi-day harvest festival celebrated by the Tamil community at the start of the Tai month of the Tamil solar calendar. This year, Pongal will begin on January 14, Thursday, and end on January 17, 2021.

This festival is dedicated to the Sun god. It corresponds to Makar Sankranti, also a harvest festival celebrated in various parts of the country. The festival marks the end of the winter solstice and the start of the sun’s journey northward. The four days of the festival are called Bhogi Pongal, Surya Pongal, Maatu Pongal and Kaanum Pongal.

This festival is named after the traditional sweet dish Pongal (“boiling over”) made with rice boiled in milk with jaggery. It is first offered to the gods and goddesses and then enjoyed by the family.

Also Read | Pongal special recipes: Jazz up your festivities with these mouth-watering delicacies

According to some scholars, the origin of the Pongal dish can be traced back to at least the Chola period; it appears in a lot of texts and inscriptions with variations in spelling. Some Hindu temple inscriptions from the Chola to Vijayanagara Empire periods are also known to include the detailed recipe.

Celebrations also involve decorating cows, ritual bathing, making rice powder-based kolam artworks, offering prayers, and meeting friends and relatives.

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