Today we celebrated Ponggal Festival in Singapore. My mom had checked the Tamil calender and the pongal rice had to be cooked and the Padayal presented to the Gods between the auspicious time of 630am to 9am. So, my mom woke up early and prepared everything. It takes at least 2 hrs to get everything done - cutting the cane, the banana leaves. Making the chakkra rice and the pongal rice as well as the kootu (vegetarian curry with 5,7 or 9 types of vegetables). Odd number is a very important number for spiritual events. We lit the lamp - 2 on one side and 3 on the other - to make up 5. The Pongal festival is celebrated on the first day of Thai Mazam in the Tamil calendar. What touched me the most was my father's recital of the great Tamil hyms from Tevaram and other holy Tamil devotional hymns during our prayer. He recited Namasivaya Valga and Yeru Mayil. Two of his favorite hyms.
Pongal festival in India is celebrated over a four day period honoring the sun god, single woman and the sacred cow. It has somewhat of a lesser significance in Singapore as we are a non-agricultural community. However, my dad came from Tanjavur - the rice center (Neil Kalangiyam) - a wealthy agricultural community that lived in deep harmony with nature. The farmers here revere the Sun God and all things that nature has given them as it directly impacts on their harvest. A successful harvest is very much determined by the forces of nature.
Over breakfast today my dad Dr Ramiah also gave me a mini-lecture about Poompuhar and the impenetrable nature of the "flower land." (Poo + Puhar = Flower + Impenetrable). Tanjavur was considered Poopuhar as it has wealth and a city that flourished with great people and wonderful rulers. He also said that how alot of Tamil literature speaks about all these festivals like Pongal and its deep significance. His view was that Tamil literature is inextricably bound with nature - in particular the beauty inherent in nature. It would not be possible to enjoy Tamil literature without understanding nature and how the ancient Tamils lived in deep harmony with their land, their padi field and their animals.
I also learnt about the Springcleaning ritual on the day before Pongal Festival. This is called Bogi Pandigai - a day when you release the old (Palayana Kalithal) and invite the new into your life. Both a spiritual and a practical ritual - where you release things that are no longer serving your highest self so as to make way for new things that will serve your highest self.
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