TAMIL People Rejoice Pongal With Traditional Rituals

CENTURIES  old Tamil harvest festival Pongal was celebrated with usual fervour across Tamil Nadu and neighbouring Puducherry with people ushering in the auspicious Tamil month of ‘Thai’. Chants of ‘Pongal-o-Pongal’ was heard in almost all homes resided by Tamil people as the milk boiled, symbolising the gushing of prosperity. People decorated their homes with mango leaves and strings of flowers.  People rushed to temples after taking bath to offer special prayers. The AIADMK Government distributed gift hampers containing raw rice, sugar, raisins, cashew nut, cardamom and sugarcane to all cardholders to celebrate the harvest festival to mitigate the impact of cyclone Gaja in the Cauvery Delta and drought in the northern districts. The ingredients are used in the preparation of the sweet delicacy ‘Pongal’.President Ramnath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit, Chief Minister K Palaniswami and DMK president and Leader of Opposition MK Stalin have greeted people  who will participate  in the Lok Sabha poll in April-May this  year. Purohit, journalist turned politico before becoming Governor, celebrated the festival with the villagers of Sathurangapattinam in historic Kanchipuram district while Palaniswami took part in the festivities in his native Salem. The famed bull-taming sport of jallikattu was also held in Madurai coinciding with Pongal as in the previous year.CM Palaniswami greeted Purohit. “I have great pleasure in conveying my best wishes and greetings to you, the First Lady and all the members of your family for a very happy Pongal and Sankranti,” he said in a message to the Governor. In Puducherry Union Territory, close to Tamil Nadu, the festl was celebrated with pomp and gaiety, as people, both young and old, attired in new clothes exchanged greetings.       The residents of the former French colony and headquarters of seer Rishi Arabinda, visited temples to offer prayers on the occasion. Newly-made earthen pots, sugarcane and other festival-related farm products were selling like hot cakes in most parts of the town and in the neighbourhoods. However, arrival of sugarcane transported in vehicles from distant villages and neighbouring Tamilnadu created a traffic snarl in and around the markets. Police controlled the traffic and restricted movement of vehicles. Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi, Chief Minister V Narayanasamy and assembly Speaker V Vaithilingam, and leaders of different political parties, Ministers and Members of Parliament were seen greeting the people.