Aroma of ‘Ponggal’ in the air

KUALA LUMPUR - The Tamil community is excited to be ushering in a new dawn as it celebrates the Ponggal harvest festival this Sunday.

The community celebrates Ponggal which falls in the 10th month of the Tamil calendar called Thai and is a major celebration, especially for the farming community.

Sweet rice (Ponggal) dish which is prepared in a traditional clay pot is a must for the Ponggal celebration, as an offering to the Sun God in appreciation of a good harvest.

According to Malaysia Hindu Sangam president Ganesan Thangavellu, the auspicious times to prepare the sweet rice this year are between 7.26 am to 11.26 am and 2.30 pm to 5pm.

"However, its advisable to cook sweet rice in morning and this year, the Tamil community can celebrate Ponggal grandly with their family members since it falls on Sunday,” he told Bernama, today.

On this day, the Tamil community will prepare the sweet rice and offer thanksgiving prayers to Surya Bhagavan (the Sun God), and the day after Thai Ponggal is Mattu Pongal which is dedicated to cows, while on the third day of the Ponggal celebration, known as Kanni Ponggal, young ladies pray for a good life and a great husband.

The festival actually starts on Jan 14 with Bhogi, a ceremonial bonfire ritual during which the people discard old and derelict household items and clean the house to usher in a transformation and the beginning of a new cycle.

Meanwhile, Little India in Jalan Tengku Kelana, Klang, and Brickfields in Kuala Lumpur saw large crowds of Indians purchase colourful designed clay pots, milk, sugarcane and turmeric bunches to celebrate the festival.

Bernama surveys found many essential items sold at reasonable prices although with a slight price hike compared to last year. The clay pots which are usually in high demand during the Ponggal season being sold for RM10.90 to RM15.90.

Besides that, the Indian community looking forward to a double celebration this year's Ponggal since two stalwarts of the Kollywood industry, Ajith Kumar and 'Thalapathy' Vijay are heading towards a dramatic face-off in the theatres with their new movies 'Thunivu' and 'Varisu' in conjunction with the Ponggal festival.

The clash between these two Tamil cinema icons after eight years has always been a talking point and social media has been abuzz with activity since the release of both movies last Wednesday.

'Varisu’, marked the first time a film's first-day first-show screening in Malaysia took place as early as 4 am on Jan 11. - BERNAMA